


liberté, égalité, fraternité

by Spikedluv



Category: Blood Books - Tanya Huff, Blood-Smoke Series - Tanya Huff, Smoke Series - Tanya Huff, V (1983)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: smallfandombang, Crossover, F/M, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-23
Updated: 2012-04-23
Packaged: 2017-11-04 05:03:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/390039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spikedluv/pseuds/Spikedluv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Visitors have returned to Earth, and the red dust is ineffective in many areas of the world.  The Vancouver resistance may have discovered something that could bring an end to the war with the Visitors, but it’s too sensitive to trust to a radio transmission that could be intercepted by the enemy – the information must be couriered to the resistence cell in LA.  That’s where Henry Fitzroy and his team, Tony Foster, and Rose and Peter Heerkens come in. They’re the best couriers the Canadian resistence has – not surprising, since one is a vampire, and two werewolves.</p><p>During a routine recon mission Mike Donovan and Ham Tyler discover that the LA resistance cell might have a traitor in their midst – a traitor that may have already told the Visitors about the valuable information being couriered down from Vancouver. They rush to unearth the traitor before he can do any further damage, and to ensure that the message from Vancouver arrives safely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	liberté, égalité, fraternité

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the first round of Small Fandoms Bang. While re-watching V for the first time since it aired back in the 80s, I remembered that Henry Fitzroy had been part of the resistance during WWII. I figured that if he’d been around when the Visitors invaded, he would once again have joined the resistance, and a crossover idea was born. When we created this community, I immediately knew what I had to write.
> 
> The title is the national motto of France. Even though Henry was part of the resistance from the English end of things, I always think ‘French Resistance’ when the resistance during WWII is brought up and I wanted something that reflected that in some way. I also think it works well as a motto for the resistance movement referenced in this story.
> 
> I paused in the writing of this story to write the story of Henry and Tony’s first meeting, which I mention in this fic. If anyone is interested in reading that you can find it here: [take me as i am](http://archiveofourown.org/works/319425).
> 
> Warnings: Language and violence; implied sexual situations; biting; hint of sibling incest (but no more than Tanya Huff included in Blood Trail).
> 
> Thanks: Huge thanks to [asmallbluedot](http://asmallbluedot.livejournal.com/24961.html) for the gorgeous cover art.
> 
> Written: April 23, 2012

  


  


There was no need to hide his presence from the other members of the resistance, but habit kept him to the shadows. Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of Henry VIII, once Duke of Richmond and Somerset, Earl of Nottingham, and Knight of the Garter, was a 450 year old vampire. Or a Nightwalker, Child of the Night, Prince of Darkness, or Nightchild, depending on who you asked.

Normally he would have hurried back to the other members of his team, Tony, Rose and Peter, who were waiting for him in the rooms they’d been given, but the news he brought would not be well received. Henry wasn’t a coward, but he wanted to put off as long as possible telling Tony the details of his meeting with Pierre and the other leaders of the Vancouver resistance. He’d already accepted the mission, and Tony would not be pleased that Henry intended to leave him behind, even if it was for his own safety. Scratch that, _especially_ because it was for his own safety.

Tony Foster had been fifteen when Henry met him, living and working on the rough streets of Toronto, and nineteen the first time the Visitors came to Earth. When they realized that the Visitors weren’t all they were pretending to be, Tony’s youth had made him exuberant about needing to do something to keep them from taking over the entire planet and killing or capturing everyone on it. Despite their age difference, his concerns mirrored Henry’s own.

Henry had discovered, quite by accident, that the Visitors’ minds couldn’t be manipulated when one of the ‘men’ that had been sent down to serve as a liaison between the local government of Toronto and the Visitors aboard the ship orbiting the Earth above their city had seen him feeding. Henry had evaded the blast from the laser pistol, but had been unable to escape cleanly. He’d been forced to engage in a physical altercation that had caused part of the mask of skin covering the Visitors’ reptilian scales to be torn away before he’d finally killed the lizard-like creature.

Soon after that incident the local police and all news stations had been taken over by the Visitors for ‘their own good’. Not long after that people – mostly scientists – started disappearing. Henry had seen it all happen before. He’d immediately taken Tony and fled the city, going to the only people he knew would take them in, out of obligation if nothing else. Nadine Heerkens-Wells had been happy to see him, and welcoming; her husband Stuart less so. As the dominant male of the pack, he saw other adult males as a threat, though Henry had no desire to challenge him for the right to lead the pack, and wasn’t a were, to boot.

Though Tony was safe on the farm, which had been his first priority, Henry had chafed at the inactivity. He’d put out feelers before leaving Toronto, and he finally received word from his contacts about the location of a local cell of resistance fighters. When Henry announced his plans to leave and offer his assistance, Tony informed Henry that he was going along as well. Nothing Henry said could dissuade him.

“How long do you think we’ll be safe out here? Until they’ve emptied the cities? I want to help,” Tony said. “And besides, you need someone to watch your back.”

Tony had been right – if the Visitors weren’t defeated, no one would be safe, even out there in the country. As much as he wanted to protect Tony, the truth was that no place was really safe; or would be for long. Leaving Tony there, with the illusion of safety, would probably be more dangerous than keeping Tony with him, where Henry could at least keep an eye on him.

Henry had been raised to protect what was his, and that instinct had only intensified over the centuries. And there was no doubt that Tony was his.

All too soon Henry was at the hotel that had been turned to the use of the resistance when the Visitors returned to Earth. (The owner’s wife and son had been taken by the Visitors during the first invasion, and now he and his daughter were staunch supporters of the rebellion.) Henry had thought at the time that their victory over the Visitors had seemed too easy – an advanced alien race that had traveled such a long distance, in large spaceships the people of Earth had only dreamt of, wouldn’t give up so easily, especially when they were desperate for a new food source. He was not happy to have been proven right.

Henry knocked their prearranged signal upon the door before inserting the key into the lock. They’d been given adjoining rooms, but Henry knew that Rose and Peter would want to hear about his meeting as much as Tony did, so Storm and Cloud would probably be in the room with Tony. The two weres would recognize his scent, but there was no sense taking the chance that Tony would accidentally shoot him – even if it couldn’t kill him, it would hurt like hell.

Henry was unsurprised to see Storm and Cloud draped over Tony’s legs, and each other. “You’re shedding on the bed,” he told them as he closed the door behind himself, making sure it locked.

Their tongues lolled out of their mouths as they laughed at him.

“How did the meeting go?” Tony asked as soon as the door was shut.

“It went as well as could be expected,” Henry said enigmatically in an attempt to buy himself some time. He allowed himself a moment to remove the black leather duster that had made it through the first occupation, disarm himself – he carried an automatic loaded with the special ammunition that had been smuggled over the border during the first war with the Visitors. Henry owned a sword that he hadn’t used in over a hundred years, not that it would be effective against laser rifles, as well as a revolver, but regular bullets wouldn’t kill the lizards – and then wash his hands and face in the bathroom.

Tony held his silence until Henry emerged from the bathroom, which was longer than Henry had expected. “Well? Are they sending us on another mission?”

During the first invasion Henry’s team had garnered a reputation for being able to move swiftly, silently, and successfully through Visitor-occupied territory. It helped having Henry’s own supernatural abilities, as well as two werewolves on their team.

“There’s some important information they need couriered to the resistance cell in LA,” Henry said.

Tony shoved the wolves off his legs and slid to the edge of the mattress. “Something they can’t pass on by radio?”

“Too sensitive,” Henry said, “even for a coded transmission. They can’t take the chance it’ll fall into enemy hands.”

“When do we leave?”

Tony sounded both excited and exhausted. They’d only just arrived in Vancouver that night. As soon as they’d made their delivery, Henry had been called to a special meeting. Sunrise was only an hour away; Henry contemplated waiting until sunset, just before he left, to give Tony the bad news. Instead he bit the bullet and said, “ _We’re_ not. I’m doing this one alone.”

Henry had expected that Tony would react badly to the announcement, but he was unprepared for the shrill barks and howls that erupted from Storm’s and Cloud’s throats.

“Quiet,” Henry commanded firmly, and the weres fell silent. He looked at Tony, who had yet to speak, and waited. He didn’t have to wait long.

“We’ve talked about this,” Tony said.

Henry wasn’t surprised by Tony’s calm response – Tony had learned a lot about the seedier side of life during his years on the streets, and he’d grown up even more over the last couple of years, one of which he’d spent fighting off an invasion of alien lizards at Henry’s side. At times, Henry found himself wishing for the young Tony, who’d sometimes spoken before he’d thought, and would certainly have raised his voice at the notion of being left behind. Henry could deal with that; he was having more trouble dealing with this grown up version of Tony.

“This is different,” Henry lied.

“How so?”

The red dust, the only reason they’d been able to repel the alien invaders the first time, was still active in Vancouver, as well as the colder northern regions of the United States, but the further south you went, the less effective the red dust was, until, in places like Los Angeles, the Visitors didn’t have to worry about the red dust at all. The war was different this time; the Visitors had given up on pretending to be their friends, and were fighting a ground war with no care for the diplomatic cover they’d tried to maintain during the first occupation.

It was more dangerous than ever, even in a supposedly ‘neutral’ city like Los Angeles. Henry wanted to keep Tony as far away from the fighting as he could. If the information he carried was accurate, the invasion might soon be over, but in the meantime . . . .

“I need to move fast, and you would only slow me down,” Henry said, sending a silent apology to Tony for the low blow.

“Bullshit,” Tony snarled, but he couldn’t hide his reaction when the barb (that Tony was only human) hit its mark.

“And one person is easier to hide than four,” Henry went on, ignoring the outburst he’d engineered.

“We’re a team,” Tony pressed on, as if Henry hadn’t spoken. “I can’t speak for . . . .” Tony paused only long enough to see that Storm and Cloud had changed to their human forms. “. . . Rose and Peter, but I’m going with you.”

“We’re going, too,” Rose said, speaking for them both after a shared look with Peter.

“You’re vulnerable when the sun is up, and you’re not always going to be able to dig a hole to hide in,” Tony went on, referring to the first time Henry had been part of a resistence group. “You also need blood, and you can’t manipulate the lizards like you can other humans. They may already know about you, but even if they don’t, they will once they capture you. And they’ll do worse to you than prepare you for dinner. If you think I’m staying here so I can twiddle my thumbs and worry about you, you’ve got another think coming. Besides,” Tony added as he ran out of steam. “I know you don’t want me to leave the red dust area, but if you try to leave without me, I’ll just follow you.”

“Us, too,” Peter added, then hid behind Rose when Henry glowered at him.

Tony crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Henry. He had the audacity to look him right in the eyes, the little shit. Henry had tried to manipulate Tony’s mind in the past (the latest attempt to keep him safe, though Tony saw it differently), and to both their surprise it had never worked. Henry still hadn’t figured out why, but he was tempted to try again just to see if anything had changed. Tony was practically daring him to, which called to the beast in him.

Henry bared his teeth and snarled. Tony showed a healthy respect for Henry’s vampire nature, but he refused to back down.

“We need to talk. Alone,” Henry growled, and Rose and Peter hurried – though not before giving Tony a look to make sure he wanted them to leave. When had Henry lost control? Probably the day Tony finally agreed to move into his condo instead of continuing to live on the streets – through the door connecting the two rooms.

“You’re not going,” Henry said, even before he heard the ‘snick’ of the door closing.

“You can’t stop me,” Tony retorted, though his heart was beating fast.

“Damn it, Tony,” Henry said, breaking off the staring contest. “I just want you to be safe.”

“I know,” Tony said gently. “I want you to be safe, too.”

Henry opened his arms and Tony ran into them. Tony was taller now than Henry’s 5'6", but he burrowed into Henry’s arms as if he were still the scrawny teenager Henry had found hustling on the streets.

“Please,” Henry said, speaking a word he didn’t often use. “Please stay here where you’re safe.”

“Please don’t ask me to do that,” Tony said, and they were at a stalemate.

Henry knew that he’d lost. Short of tying Tony up (which Henry would do if he actually thought it might work) there was no way to keep Tony from leaving Vancouver. And if they didn’t leave together, Tony would just follow him, with Storm and Cloud sniffing out his trail. Better that they were together, then, than that he spent half his time worrying about Tony rather than being on the lookout for the enemy.

“You _need_ me,” Tony said.

Henry knew he was asking for reassurance of it as much as stating a fact. “I do need you,” Henry said, and felt Tony relax in his arms. If only getting him to stay behind was this easy.

“I’m not a child,” Tony said, even as he snuggled into Henry’s arms.

“I know that,” Henry said, trying not to sigh.

“I can take care of myself.”

Henry slid his fingers into Tony’s hair and pulled his head back. “I know that, too.”

Tony had done a lot of ‘taking care of himself’ when he’d lived on streets – knowing that didn’t make it any easier for Henry to allow Tony to rush headlong into danger. Though Henry knew better than to use the world ‘allow’ in Tony’s hearing. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Tony’s smile was small, but came more easily to his face. Probably with the knowledge that he’d won. “I don’t like knowing you could be hurt, either,” he said, quite reasonably.

“I come better equipped for defending myself.”

“And with certain . . . issues.”

“My _issues_ ,” Henry began, and then saw the gleam in Tony’s eyes. “You’re trying to rile me up.” Tony didn’t deny it. Henry let his eyes darken. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I’ve got some ideas,” Tony said, not in the slightest bit cowed by the fact that Henry was a deadly vampire.

Henry could smell what some of those ideas were. What he said was, “Tie you to the bed and force you to watch the colorized version of “The Wizard of Oz”?

Tony gasped, not all of it theatrical. “Bite your tongue!”

Henry smirked. “I could do that. Or I could . . . .” He touched his thumb to the spot on Tony’s neck where he’d taken blood from him before during sex. He never fed from the neck, preferring the wrist or the base of the thumb where the bites were more easily hidden, and from where he was less tempted to take too much blood and risk killing or turning the individual.

Feeding wasn’t always sexual for Henry (though it was for the person he fed upon), yet it was impossible to completely separate sex from blood. The taste of Tony’s arousal was exquisite, as were the sounds he made when Henry drew on his blood. A small taste enhanced the experience for both of them.

Tony’s eyes glazed over at the light brush of Henry’s thumb. The rhythm of his breathing changed, and his pulse jumped beneath Henry’s touch. Tony gasped his name, which Henry found more gratifying than he probably should.

“Show me some of those ideas.”

~*~*~*~

“What part of _recon_ don’t you understand, Donovan?” Ham growled as he helped Mike strip the uniform off the Visitor they’d disabled and dragged behind one of the Jeeps.

“We’re still recon’ing,” Mike said reasonably. “We’re just going to get closer to do it.”

Mike grinned, and Ham was tempted to punch him in the face. Which he would have done if he wasn’t normally quite fond of that ridiculously handsome face. Ham Tyler had met Mike Donovan several years ago while he was on a mission and Mike was a do-gooder reporter looking for a story and getting in his way. They’d been butting heads ever since.

“Do you even have a plan?” Ham said as Mike pulled on the uniform over his own clothes.

Mike adjusted the gloves, and then the goggles, before speaking. “Yes. We need to get you a uniform, too.”

“I meant . . . .” Ham bit off the words with a vicious grinding of his teeth. “One of these days I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Please, Tyler, you love my ass,” Mike said, then sauntered out into the open, true identity hidden beneath the uniform. Unless one of the lizards looked too closely.

Mike was trouble. Ham had no idea why he even liked the other man. Though, to be honest, if you wanted to kill someone as often as he wanted to kill Mike, did that even qualify as ‘like’?

Mike was always rushing into danger with no thought for himself, or the people he was with. Namely, Ham. He refused to see that you couldn’t save everyone, and that sometimes the bigger picture required sacrifices. The needs of the many, and all that. Although, Ham had to admit, he _did_ have a very fine ass.

“You _are_ an ass,” Ham muttered instead of voicing any of his other thoughts, knowing that Mike was still close enough to hear him.

Ham stayed in the shadows, weapon held at the ready as Mike approached one of the lizards.

“Matthew hasn’t checked in,” Mike told the Visitor, using the Earth name of the Visitor they’d taken out. “We need to check it out; it could be the rebels.”

Just a mention of the resistance was enough to prompt the lizard to action. “Diana should just bomb the city instead of playing her silly games,” he said, sounding annoyed as he followed Mike.

“Don’t let Diana hear you say that,” Mike said dryly.

Ham agreed. The last thing they needed was Diana getting the idea that she no longer needed LA intact.

Under the ruse of searching for the ‘missing’ Matthew, Mike led the Visitor further away from his comrades, and closer to where Ham was lurking in the shadows.

“What’s this?” Mike said, bending down to poke at some nonexistent clue.

As the lizard bent to see whatever it was he was studying, Mike came up swinging, smashing the lizard in the face with the butt of his purloined laser pistol. The moment the lizard was off-balance from the blow, Ham stepped out of the shadows. They couldn’t risk the lizard crying out and alerting the others, so Ham quickly put his hands to the lizard’s head and twisted. Regular bullets might not kill them, but you could break their necks just like the humans they impersonated.

Ham carefully lowered the body to the ground. Not out of any respect for the lizard, but to keep the others from hearing the sound of a body falling and coming to investigate. They removed the uniform and Ham stepped into it while Mike stood lookout. As soon as Ham was disguised beneath the uniform they found a spot to step out of the shadows, making it appear as if they’d been walking the perimeter.

“Hey, you two!” one of the Visitors that appeared to be in charge called in their direction.

Both Ham and Mike froze for a second, fearing that they’d been found out.

“Get over here and help load these crates onto the shuttle!” he commanded.

Ham’s shoulders relaxed beneath the ill-fitting uniform.

“Wonder what’s in the crates?” Mike said as they made their way to the panel van that had been waved through the gates and now idled beside the shuttle craft.

“Only one way to find out,” Ham said.

The crates were light enough for one man to carry, but unwieldy enough to require two to handle them. Mike and Ham joined the queue of lizards loading the shuttle. They examined the exterior of their crate as best they could, and then the exterior of the crates already loaded onto the shuttle. The crates gave nothing away regarding their cargo. They needed to see inside.

On the next trip Mike stumbled and they let a corner of the crate hit the ground. The wood held, but the contents squealed in fear at being upended.

“Sorry, sorry,” Mike apologized to the lead Visitor and managed to look suitably chastened as the lizard yelled at him about what Diana would do if they damaged any of the contents of the crates.

They righted the crate and continued on to the shuttle.

“Mice?” Ham hissed as soon as they were out of earshot of the lizard. “The important thing we just _had to see_ * was them loading up dinner?”

They’d received a coded message that they needed to be at this location tonight. Even though the communication had come through all the right channels, Ham had been suspicious at the lack of information provided, but Mike had been determined to follow up on the lead, no matter how flimsy it felt. Ham’s only choice had been to let Mike go alone, or to accompany him despite his own misgivings.

“Maybe there’s something special about the mice,” Mike said, undaunted. “Think we can get one?”

“Even if we could find a crowbar and open the crates and get one mouse out without anyone seeing us, what are we going to do with it?” Ham snarled, trying to keep his voice low.

“Maybe Julie can run some tests on it,” Mike suggested.

“Maybe we could feed it to Willie,” Ham snarked.

Mike just smiled and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Now you’re getting with the program.”

Ham’s rebuttal was silenced when he noticed the head Visitor that had pressed them into service disappearing into the shadows.

“Keep loading,” Ham growled at the other lizards. “We’re going to do another perimeter check.”

Before any of the lizards could protest, Mike and Ham moved off after the head Visitor. They angled their path so they didn’t stumble upon him, and then made their way towards his location once they’d gained the cover of the shadows. They heard the soft murmur of their voices before they saw them. The Visitor was meeting with someone. Ham wondered why the meeting was a secret from the other lizards.

They moved closer, being careful not to make a sound and give themselves away. The Visitor had his back to them, the person he met with was hidden in shadow. Even if they could have made out his features, it would have been impossible to tell just by a visual inspection whether he was human or another lizard, especially since he was wearing civilian clothes rather than the distinctive uniform of the Visitors.

The two spoke softly, and Mike and Ham had to risk exposure to move closer so they could hear what they were talking about. Even so, Ham only made out some of what they were saying: _Tell Diana . . . Vancouver . . . resistance . . . important information . . . ._ It was enough for Ham to realize that they were in trouble.

They’d just found out the day before that the Vancouver resistance was sending someone to LA with some very important information that might change the course of their war against the Visitors, and now that information was going to be in Diana’s hands unless they did something. Ham touched Mike’s elbow and hoped he’d be quick to catch on – they were too close to the lizard and the one that was either traitor or spy for him to explain his plan verbally.

If the other had infiltrated the resistance, then he might recognize their faces even beneath the unflattering red caps and goggles, but it was a risk they had to take. Ham began walking towards the other two figures, and after a moment of surprise Mike fell into step beside him. The lizard’s head jerked up when he heard their approach, and his hand went to his holstered weapon before he saw who they were. He relaxed, but only minutely, when he recognized them.

“What are you two doing here?” he demanded.

“Final perimeter check, sir,” Ham said.

“Crates are all loaded,” Mike added.

“Then let’s get back there,” the lizard said.

With a slight nod in his direction, the other man melted away into the shadows, but not before Ham got a good look at his face. Ham didn’t recognize him, but he committed the man’s features to memory. Surprisingly, he didn’t appear to recognize them, either.

As soon as the man slipped away, the head lizard turned to lead them back towards where he and Mike had left the others loading the mice onto the ship. They couldn’t let him return to Diana with the information the spy had brought him. According to Vancouver, they’d discovered something that might end the invasion. They hadn’t sent the information itself in a coded message for just this reason. It seemed that they were right to be cautious.

They didn’t have time for finesse. Ham stepped up behind the lizard and clamped a hand over his mouth as he stuck a knife in his neck and drew it across his throat. Mike helped him drag the gurgling lizard further into the shadows. They dropped the body and Ham double checked that he was dead before speaking.

“We need to get out of here before they come looking for him.”

“Think we can find our friend?” Mike said as they jogged to where they’d cut the fence so they could sneak in, and left the same way. They pretended to be on patrol until they’d gone a couple of blocks and could duck into an abandoned store.

They kept an eye out for the man they’d seen meeting with the lizard, knowing that he could just as easily be waiting to ambush them if he had recognized them and merely hidden it really well. Chances were that if he _had_ recognized them, he’d have given them up to the lizard, but Ham figured you weren’t paranoid if they really were out to get you.

Once inside the abandoned store they quickly removed the uniforms and carried them with them when they exited through the back door.

“See anything?” Ham said.

“All clear,” Kyle Bates replied, his voice coming out of the shadows. He pushed himself out of his slouch and stepped up beside them.

“There could be someone out there,” Mike said, indicating the street with a tilt of his chin. “So be careful when you leave.”

At Kyle’s confused look, Ham said, “Someone met with the head honcho lizard. Someone who knew things about the resistance he shouldn’t have.”

“A traitor?”

“Or a spy,” Mike said.

“Let us go first,” Ham said as he dumped the borrowed uniform into the backseat of the Impala. “We’ve got a little more protection in case someone starts shooting. And since they don’t know about you, you can hold back, make sure we’re not followed.”

Kyle nodded, then straddled his bike and pulled on the helmet. Mike slid into the passenger seat and tossed his uniform into the back with the other as Ham turned the key in the ignition.

“We need to figure out who this guy is,” Mike said.

“You read my mind.” Ham cautiously pulled out of the alley and onto the seemingly empty street. He left the headlights off, because even if their friend wasn’t out there, waiting for them, the lizards had probably discovered the bodies of their comrades by now and might be looking for them. No sense giving them a clear target to shoot at.

They’d managed to keep this bit of information from getting back to Diana tonight, but the man, traitor or spy, could always pass it on to someone else if he realized that his plan had been foiled. And who knew what damage he could do if they didn’t catch him soon – what damage he may have done already?

If he was a spy, Ham would kill him. If he was a traitor, a collaborator, Ham would hurt him a little bit before killing him. Mike’s bleeding heart probably wouldn’t like it, but what Mike didn’t know wouldn’t get Ham into trouble. Ham didn’t know which was worse, the cold shoulder Mike would give him, or the major case of blue balls.

When the first laser blast whizzed past their car to hit another vehicle parked halfway onto the sidewalk, Ham realized that he wouldn’t have to worry about either if he didn’t start paying more attention to their surroundings.

~*~*~*~

Tony had gotten used to waking up next to an unmoving Henry, but seeing him covered with a tarp (for extra protection from the sun, even though their room didn’t have any windows) still threw him. Even with Henry lying still as a corpse, Tony could normally see his face, know it was Henry and that he’d reanimate as soon as the sun went down. Conditioned by his years on the street, the tarp elicited a visceral reaction that told him all life had been drained from the body lying beneath it, from violence or indifference, but either way, dead, dead, dead.

If Tony lifted the corner of the tarp to reassure himself with a glimpse of Henry’s face, touched his finger to the soft red-gold hair, no one else had to know.

Satisfied, Tony turned his head to check the clock. Six minutes past four in the afternoon. Three hours and thirty-six minutes until the sun went down. He wanted to speak with Pierre, gather together supplies they’d need for the trip, and pack the Blazer before Henry rose, not wanting to give him any excuse to suggest again that either he or the weres should be left behind.

The Blazer was new. They’d used Henry’s BMW the first time around, but the backseats had been trashed by Storm’s and Cloud’s claws, not to mention the bullet holes riddling the exterior, and the tape keeping a crack in the back window from spreading. Henry’d had it restored, but refused to press it into service again when the Visitor’s invaded a second time.

Instead, Henry’d bought the SUV, which had more room for the weres in the back, as well as room for their weapons. Rose had threatened to bite someone if she had to crawl into the trunk from the backseat again to retrieve additional weapons and ammo when they were ambushed or had to run a checkpoint.

Tony rolled off the bed and immediately felt the ache in his muscles, the twinge in his ass that reminded him of how he and Henry had spent the last moments before the sun rose. He blushed, even though there was no one there to see him, and despite the years he’d spent hustling on the streets. Sometimes Tony thought it was Henry’s age, the experience he’d gathered over the years, and other times, the way Henry so obviously cared about him that made Tony feel like the innocent he’d never really been, not even when he’d still lived at home.

Tony thought back to their first time. He’d always been a source of amusement for Henry, as well as a source of sustenance. Tony’d also known that he’d filled Henry’s need to care for someone. As much as he’d sometimes chafed under Henry’s smothering attentions, Tony had known (at least intellectually) that in this case it really wasn’t him, it was Henry.

Henry didn’t see Tony as being unable to take care of himself, he just couldn’t stop himself from stepping in to do things for Tony before Tony could do them for himself. It had come to a head one night, just before they’d gone out on a mission with a group from the resistance cell in Ontario to ambush a convoy of weapons.

Tony had been so angry with Henry that he’d ignored his admonitions to stick together, to keep his head down, to stay behind him. They’d gotten separated, and Tony had been pinned down behind some brush that offered very little cover. Henry had fought tooth and nail, literally, to get to Tony. He’d used the automatic weapon he carried until it ran out of rounds, then tore through the lizards, tearing off arms and ripping out throats, uncaring who saw his true nature while he fought his way to Tony. Storm and Cloud raced through the lizard’s legs, confusing them, tripping them up, nipping at exposed hamstrings to slow them down, and lunging for unprotected throats.

When Henry finally reached him, Tony saw a look in his eyes he’d never seen before – fear. Not for himself, but for Tony. Henry had been covered with the blood and gore of his enemies, but that hadn’t stopped him from dragging Tony against him and holding him close. Holding him as if he’d never let him go again. Henry buried his face in Tony’s neck and just breathed him in.

Henry’s lips touched Tony’s neck, and he shivered. He waited for the sting of Henry’s fangs breaking his skin, but Henry just kept his lips pressed there. When Henry finally pulled back, Tony saw a desire in Henry’s eyes that had nothing to do with blood (or very little – with vampires, everything was a little bit about blood), and nothing to do with the need to take care of one of his ‘people’ (and Tony had no doubt that Henry saw Tony as ‘his’).

Tony’s body reacted to that look. He couldn’t help it; Henry was hot. He’d thought so from the first moment he’d seen Henry, even though the alley had been dark, and Henry had been feeding. He’d often gotten hard (and frequently came) while Henry fed from his wrist – it was just the way things were with vampires – so he was already hardwired to get turned on around Henry. At first it had been embarrassing, especially knowing that Henry could smell it on him, but after a while they both ignored it – Tony because he could do nothing about it, and Henry in deference to what he called Tony’s ‘sensibilities’.

“Glad you’re on our side,” was all Joseph said, but still Henry manipulated the minds of every human that had seen his true nature. They might not be so equanimous once the war was over and they no longer had a common enemy.

They’d confiscated weapons, ammunition, and salvageable uniforms, then stacked the bodies of the dead lizards onto a pile and burned them. After checking the trucks for tracking devices and bombs they’d driven them to an abandoned warehouse far enough away from both the place of attack and their headquarters that they wouldn’t be found right away, nor would it give away the location of the resistance.

They unloaded the guns and transferred them to smaller vehicles that would draw less attention from the Visitors. Through it all Henry was professional, doing what needed to be done with little talking. Tony, on the other hand, had been on pins and needles, uncertain as to why his body was reacting the way it was to Henry. Aside from the almost-kiss, almost-bite, Henry had done nothing overt, and yet Tony was forced to shift himself inside his jeans at merely the sight of the strong line of Henry’s jaw as he stood talking to Joseph.

Headlights off, they all took turns leaving the warehouse, driving off in different directions. Their intent was to share the weapons with the various resistance cells. Hopefully some of the men would get through the Visitor lines. Henry and Tony were to head back to Toronto. It was safer to travel during the night, but also necessary for Henry. With several hours of darkness left they started looking for a place to stay. They had several safe houses available to them, but none of them were along this route.

Finally they came to an abandoned farmhouse. Henry pulled the vehicle into the barn so that it wouldn’t be seen by a passing patrol, and then scouted out the house. There were large windows in many of the rooms, but the house had a cellar. Henry dragged a mattress down, as well as several blankets. They stuffed the small windows and hung towels over them to keep out the sunlight.

When Henry was satisfied that the cellar was as secure as he could make it, they set up some booby traps outside so that Tony would be warned if anyone approached. Once they were done Henry took Tony’s hand. It was shaking.

“You’re afraid,” Henry said.

Tony shook his head. “Not of you.”

Henry growled low in his throat, and it sent a shiver up Tony’s spine. “Of what?”

“Everything else,” Tony said, and before Henry could change his mind Tony kissed him.

Tony shook his head now, clearing away the memories, and then continued on to the bathroom. He showered, not knowing when he’d have the opportunity again, and dressed, then went out to find Pierre. Tony met with Hal, since Pierre was in a meeting when he arrived at the rebel headquarters. It was an old movie studio, with plenty of room for barracks and storage, as well as a large war room.

With Storm and Cloud trailing at his heels, Tony and Hal gathered supplies. It wasn’t that the two weres wanted to get out of work – Peter and Rose were two of the hardest working people Tony knew, having grown up on a farm – but they’d been introduced to this cell as ‘dogs’, and so they were forced to remain in wolf form. It also helped that they could gather additional information that Tony and Henry (aside from Henry’s enhanced hearing) weren’t privy to, because no one thought twice about speaking in front of an animal.

They stocked the SUV with ammunition, water, and canned goods, though not too many of the latter. They’d take up too much space, and also were unnecessary, since the trip should only take three days if they traveled all through the night without stopping and didn’t run into any trouble. Plus, Tony expected that they’d encounter some vacant houses and shops they’d be able to borrow from, if the need arose. Hal pulled out a map, and he and Tony spent an hour going over their route.

Tony was back in their room when Henry woke; Storm and Cloud remained outside guarding the Blazer. Even among allies, Tony would rather be safe than sorry. They could do without the food and water, but not without the lizard killing rounds. Rose and Peter’s bag had been stowed in the SUV; his and Henry’s sat by the door. The only things not in it were Henry’s clothes and the map.

Tony knew that Henry didn’t like the vulnerability he felt when he first woke, so after he pulled the tarp away from Henry’s face, Tony sat still and silent and waited for Henry to regain full consciousness. Henry’s eyes flashed when he first scented Tony, and then his eyes filled with recognition.

“Is the Blazer packed?” Henry said as he threw off the covers and padded to the bathroom.

“Yes,” Tony said. He folded the tarp while Henry washed up. “I got more of the special ammo.”

“Good. The further south we go, the greater the chance we’ll need them.”

Somehow Henry managed to say that without it seeming like he was trying to guilt Tony into staying behind.

“I’ve got the map,” Tony said as he watched Henry get dressed. He’d gotten used to it, but occasionally it still seemed strange to see Henry dress in jeans and Henley’s rather than nice slacks and silk shirts. Either way, he looked damned fine, Tony thought.

Henry raised an eyebrow at Tony as he pulled his hair back into an elastic band. Tony didn’t get embarrassed or hung up about sex (hustling on the streets would do that to you), but it had taken him a while to get used to the fact that Henry could pick up on even the slightest hint of arousal.

“I’m just looking,” Tony said, unselfconscious.

“Good,” Henry said. “Because we don’t have time for anything else.”

“I understand,” Tony teased. “You’re getting old, can’t keep up like you used to.”

Henry shot him a look. “The map?”

Tony spread the map out over the end of the bed. A direct route to LA was marked, as were side and back roads where taking them might be safer. There were also notations indicating checkpoints set up by the Visitors, and towns where help could be sought should it prove necessary, information gleaned from forays south by the Vancouver resistance and information passed north by other resistance cells.

“Okay,” Henry said after studying the map. “Let’s get going.”

Henry swung on his duster, but before he could head for the door Tony stepped in front of him. He touched Henry’s neck as he bent his head for a kiss.

“Good evening.”

~*~*~*~

Fortunately the Visitors had found their dead commander, rather than them having the bad luck of running into a fully manned squad on patrol. Because they’d needed to leave some soldiers behind to guard the shuttle, they’d only been able to send a couple of lizards after them. Kyle had been able to surprise them and take them both out, and then they’d separated and taken a path designed to lose any pursuit back to Los Angeles and the Club.

Mike took off his boots and threw them at the wall. They bounced off with a satisfying ‘thunk’, but even that didn’t help Mike’s mood. As soon as they’d returned to their headquarters beneath the now-destroyed Club Creole, in what Elias thought had once been a bordello during prohibition, they’d contacted Vancouver with the news that their courier may have been compromised. It was too late; the courier had already left. Pierre had assured them that they’d sent their best team, but that didn’t make Mike feel any better when the Visitors might already expect them and be sending someone to intercept them.

Mike and Ham then both described the man they’d seen (as well as they could, given that he’d been partly in shadow the entire time), to Elizabeth and she drew a composite of him. They studied the picture, made a few changes until they were both satisfied with the result.

“That’s him,” Mike said, taking the pad from Elizabeth and staring at the traitor/spy. Mike patted her shoulder and said, “Good job, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth smiled shyly. “Thank you.”

“Anybody recognize him?” Ham said, taking the pad from Mike’s hand and passing it around the assembled group.

No one did. Mike wasn’t surprised. If the man had been a part of their cell, Mike would have recognized him.

“Willie,” Mike said. “Is he a Visitor?”

Willie studied the picture closely. “I do not recognize him.”

“Damn it,” Mike swore. “We need to get copies of this picture out there.”

“We need to find this guy before he tries to pass that information on to someone else, or before he can do anything else,” Ham added.

Elias took the pad from Willie, tore out the page with the drawing, and then handed the pad back to Elizabeth. “I’ll take care of it.”

Mike needed something to do, so he added the purloined uniforms to their stores, the weapons  
to their armory, and made a note of both to their inventory. It wasn’t nearly enough to burn off the energy he was feeling.

“Hey,” Ham said.

Mike glanced up, and then back down to the floor he’d been staring at. Ham looked good leaning against the doorframe, but Mike was too frustrated to let his thoughts loose in that direction. “I’m not in the mood,” he said.

“For what?” Ham bent down and picked up the sock Mike had rolled up and thrown after the boot. He tossed it at Mike and it bounced off his forehead. “A fight? ‘Cause I think you are.”

“Don’t,” Mike warned.

Ham bent back down and picked up the sock that had rolled back to his feet.

“Seriously, Ham, I . . . .” The sock bounced off Mike’s nose this time. Mike opened eyes that had reflexively closed and glared at Ham, who wasn’t quite laughing, but near enough to fan the flames Mike had only barely been suppressing.

“I warned you,” Mike said softly, a tone that might have been misunderstood by anyone else, but Ham was ready when Mike pushed himself off the mattress and threw the first punch.

Ham blocked Mike’s swing, and then threw a punch of his own. Mike caught it in the lip. He didn’t even pause, his fist landing in Ham’s ribs even as his tongue darted out to probe the split lip. The room they shared on nights they didn’t return to Mike’s house was small, most of the space taken up by the double bed they both barely fit into, and the dresser that held more guns than clothes.

Floor space was limited, which made pacing difficult, much less fighting, so when Ham tackled Mike around the middle they went down on the corner of the mattress. The frame held for a second, and then there was a loud crack as the bed tilted and they rolled off onto the floor. When they came to a stop against the dresser Mike was on top of Ham, who seemed quite happy with that position.

Ham grabbed Mike’s hips and held him in place as he rocked his own hips up against him. They were both hard from the fight and the friction made Mike moan.

“Thought you weren’t in the mood,” Ham said as he pushed up again.

Mike didn’t know what the hell he saw in Ham – they were as different as night and day in some respects, and yet Mike needed this. Needed _him_.

“Shut up,” Mike growled and crushed their mouths together. He didn’t know if the blood he tasted was from his previously split lip or a new injury. Nor did he care.

~*~

We’ve been thinking about this all wrong,” Ham said afterwards, when they both lay on the mattress they’d pulled onto the floor.

“Thinking about what?” Mike drawled, his brain still disconnected from his body.

“The spy,” Ham said, sliding his hand down Mike’s back. “We’ve been worried about ID’ing him, which we do need to do, but we also need to figure out how he got the information.”

Mike raised his head and stared at Ham. Only five of them knew about the courier from Vancouver – him, Ham, Julie, Elias, and Sally Canton, who’d been on communications duty when the message came in. “Either he intercepted it somehow, or overheard it, or . . . .”

“Or we have a leak,” Ham finished.

Mike hated to think that one of their own had betrayed them, but they’d all learned the lengths to which a person would go to protect their loved ones. Desperate people looked to desperate measures, even if it meant collaborating with the enemy.

Sally was a single mother of one, a sixteen year old boy, and had joined up during the first invasion after her parents had been taken by the Visitors. Mike couldn’t believe that she’d have done anything to hurt the resistance, but that information had gotten out there somehow.

“Let’s go find Elias,” Mike said, rolling away from Ham’s warmth and digging his now-wrinkled t-shirt out from beneath the mattress.

~*~

Elias was still in the main room with Willie, Elizabeth, and Kyle.

“We need a copy of the composite,” Mike told him. “And Sally Canton’s address.”

“Sally?” Elias said. “It’s after midnight,” he added when neither Mike nor Ham said anything, handing Mike one of the copies he’d made.

“I know, but we need to find out if she told anybody about the communication, or if she recognizes this guy.”

“Actually,” Ham said, “to be thorough, and fair, we should ask everyone. Julie’s not here, but we can start with the three of us. I didn’t tell anyone. You?” He turned to Mike.

“No. Elias?”

Elias looked guilty. “Just Willie.”

Mike nodded. Willie had been with them since the first invasion (albeit, at first as a hostage), and he’d stayed with Elias after the Visitors were driven away. It was natural that Elias would’ve told him. “Willie?”

Willie fidgeted. “Just Elizabeth.”

Beside him Ham grunted. Mike looked at Elizabeth, who blushed and glanced nervously at Kyle.

“Just Kyle.”

“And you?” Ham said.

“No one,” Kyle said. “No one left to tell,” he added with a smirk.

“Your father?”

“He’s the last person I’d tell.”

Ham nodded, apparently satisfied. “We’ll talk to Julie when she gets back. In the meantime, we have to pay a visit to Sally.”

“Do you really think she betrayed us?” Elias said after he gave them her address.

“No,” Mike said, not wanting to believe it, “but we have to sure.”

~*~

There were no lights on at Sally’s home. Not surprising, since she’d probably long been in bed. They’d parked down the street and approached the house from the rear, walking cross lots. They observed the house from the shadows for a few minutes to make sure they weren’t walking into a trap.

Ham covered Mike as he went to the back door and knocked, the 2-3-2 pattern they’d come up with so as to not scare people into thinking that the lizards were at their door. He repeated the knock and then waited.

A few minutes later Mike heard Sally’s voice from the other side of the door. “Who is it?”

“Mike and Ham,” Mike said.

The locks disengaged and Sally cracked the door open and peered out. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” Mike told her. “Can we come in?”

Sally opened the door wider and Mike saw that she’d dressed before coming to the door, but hurriedly if the messy ponytail and mis-buttoned shirt were any indication. Thomas, Sally’s son had also hurriedly dressed and stood behind her with a packed bag in case they had to run.

“Should I turn on the lights?” Sally said as she closed the door behind Ham, re-locking it.

“You got a room in the back with heavy curtains?” Ham said.

Sally led them to what once had been a formal living room. The curtains were already drawn and she turned on a lamp that emitted only a soft glow. “What’s wrong?”

“We may have a leak,” Mike said.

“No!” Sally said. Her surprise turned to a frown. “Wait, you think it’s me?”

“We don’t want to believe that it’s anyone,” Mike said, “but we have to ask everyone to be sure.”

“We’ve already talked to everyone back at the Club,” Ham said. “You were there when the message came in from Vancouver.”

“Yes.”

Mike showed her the drawing. “Do you recognize this guy?”

Sally took the composite and looked at it, then shook her head. “No.”

“Did you tell anyone about the communication?”

“Just Thomas, and he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

They all turned to look at Thomas, who was staring at the drawing in Sally’s hand.

“Thomas?” Sally reached out for her son. “Thomas, you didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“They have Janet,” Thomas said, his voice cracking and broken. “He promised me he could get her back.”

“Oh, Thomas,” Sally said, one hand going to her mouth as she squeezed her son’s shoulder with the other. Sally looked at Mike, then Ham, looked them right in the eye, not hiding from what her incautious statement may have cost them. “I’m so sorry. What can I do?”

Mike couldn’t blame her, couldn’t even blame Thomas, who was only sixteen and full of teenage hormones that didn’t help a boy act rationally. Mike himself, much older than Thomas’ sixteen, had been driven by emotion when it had come to finding and protecting his own son.

“We need to know who he is,” Ham told Sally, speaking more gently than Mike would have expected. “Thomas, what’s his name? How did he contact you?”

~*~*~*~

Pierre met them at the truck. Storm was shamelessly pushing his head into Pierre’s hand for an ear rub while Cloud sat on her haunches and looked on with an expression of fond amusement.

“You’re spoiling him,” Henry said.

“Henry,” Pierre greeted, glancing up with a smile from where he’d been gazing at Storm as he spoke to the wolf in low tones.

“Pierre.”

They shook hands again, even though they’d made their formal greetings when they met last night.

“I wanted to thank you again, personally, for making this run for us.”

“We’re happy to do it,” Henry said, not letting on that he wasn’t happy at all that Tony and the weres were accompanying him.

During the first invasion they’d moved weapons and food, information on troop movements and rebel attacks. He was honestly thrilled to be couriering something that might bring an end to the war. The sooner Tony was safe from the Visitors, the happier Henry would be.

Pierre handed a small case to Henry. “It’s well protected, but just in case.” Pierre also handed to Henry a small piece of paper. “One of these must get through,” Pierre said urgently.

“It will,” Henry promised.

Pierre shook Tony’s hand, and then patted both Storm and Cloud on the head in farewell. Henry opened the back door for the weres to jump in, rolled down the window for Storm (who loved to ride with his head hanging out the window), and then got into the passenger seat while Tony walked around and slid into the driver’s seat.

Even though they were far enough north to be safe from the Visitors it was important that they stay alert, so they’d take turns driving. Tony took the first turn behind the wheel because Henry preferred to be driving when sunrise approached. He just felt more comfortable being behind the wheel when it came time to start looking for shelter from the sun, though he knew that Tony was almost as aware as he of when the sun would come up.

While Tony guided the Blazer out of the rebel base, Henry tucked the package Pierre had given him into their bag, making sure it was well padded by spare clothing. Storm growled unhappily when Henry withdrew a collar from Rose and Peter’s bag.

“You heard him,” Henry said, ignoring Cloud’s doggie grin and Tony’s human grin as he rolled up the paper and slid it into the small tube hidden on the inside of the collar. “It’s imperative that one of these get through.”

If either Henry or Tony were hurt or killed, Storm and Cloud could hopefully escape and complete the mission.

Storm sat still for Henry to buckle the collar around his neck, but his eyes clearly expressed his unhappiness with the situation. As soon as Henry released him, Storm stuck his head out the window and pointedly ignored them, though Henry knew he was keeping watch despite his annoyance at having to wear the collar.

Cloud gazed at Storm affectionately, then rested her head on her paws and closed her eyes. Her turn to watch would come soon enough, and until then she’d rest. Henry didn’t need to rest, not that he would’ve been able to in any case. He may have agreed to allow Tony and the weres to accompany him on this mission, but he still wasn’t happy about it.

As if he could read Henry’s mind, Tony reached out and touched his hand to Henry’s leg, rubbed it before returning his hand to the steering wheel. Henry hated being so transparent, no matter that he knew Tony needed that very transparency. Henry consoled himself that very few people could read him as well as Tony could.

Henry slipped free the map Tony had folded and stuffed into his own jacket pocket. If he couldn’t keep Tony safe in Vancouver, he’d do his best to make sure that Tony arrived safely to LA. He unfolded the map and studied their route more carefully than they’d had time for in their hotel room. They could probably stay on the I-5 for the first night, but after that they’d have to be more careful to stay hidden from Visitor patrols and checkpoints.

Henry also estimated where they’d be at the four to five hundred mile mark, which was when they’d probably have to stop for the day. Best case scenario, they’d find an abandoned house or barn to stay in. Barring that, a forest where they could hide the SUV. If worse came to worst, Henry could stay in the hidden compartment that currently stored their weapons. It was cramped, but better than nothing.

A house would be preferable so that Tony had someplace comfortable to sleep, as well. The weres normally stayed in wolf form because their senses were better, so they’d be comfortable lying under the trees if it came to that, though Storm would probably prefer a soft mattress himself.

“You’re going to go blind if you keep staring at that map,” Tony said.

Henry didn’t bother telling Tony that he couldn’t go blind, since he already knew that. He refolded the map so that the current leg of their route was visible at a glance, and then stuck it between the seat and the console, which once might have held music tapes, but now held their back-up weapons and extra ammunition.

“Tell me a story,” Tony said.

They often passed their time with Henry telling Tony true (though sometimes heavily edited) stories from his past, but just to be contrary, Henry said, “With pirates or lords?”

Cloud raised her head and yipped to let them know her feelings about hearing, as Tony jokingly called them, ‘Henry’s tales of heaving bosoms’. Henry rued the day Tony had discovered he was a romance writer. Tony just grinned. “You choose.”

“Pirates it is, then,” Henry said, and settled back in the seat, prepared to tell stories until it was his turn to drive.

~*~*~*~

Ham was feeling agitated. They’d brought Sally and Thomas back to the Club and Mike and Julie were questioning the boy. Ham had been ejected from the interview because his brand of questions was more like an interrogation. Intellectually he knew that Thomas would only clam up if Ham verbally attacked him, and yet he knew no other way of getting answers. Watching Mike and Julie’s soft approach had been frustrating in the extreme, and so, despite his better judgment, Ham left them to it.

Still, he needed to do something. Ham considered cleaning his weapons to occupy both his mind and his hands. As he strode towards the room that passed for a gym, Ham heard voices. He paused and stepped inside the room. Kyle and Shane, one of Elias’ friends, were sparring. Elizabeth sat to the side, watching, a wistful expression on her face. Ham moved to her side.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing,” Elizabeth said, quite unconvincingly. She smiled at Ham, and then turned her eyes back to the mat.

“Kyle’s pretty good,” Ham said and watched the flush spread over Elizabeth’s cheeks.

“Yeah,” she agreed softly. “I wish I could do that. I hate that everyone else has to take care of me.”

Ham preferred to look at the big picture – winning the war against the Visitors no matter the cost. Mike was the one who worried about the details, and who questioned the cost. Ham had been trained to accept collateral damage as a means to an end. Mike, on the other hand, refused to lose sight of the fact that the big picture didn’t mean anything if they didn’t care about the people they were supposedly protecting.

Working with people like Mike and Julie, being trusted by them and trusting in return, was a new experience for Ham. Caring about the people in the resistance as more than tools was also new.

“You should be able to take care of yourself,” Ham agreed, then surprised them both by offering, “I could teach you.”

Elizabeth looked at him, her expression both pleased and surprised. “I’m sure you’re too busy to worry about me.”

“I’m not worried about you,” Ham said gruffly. “I’m worried about me. One day you’re going to have my back, and I’d like to be sure that you know what you’re doing.”

Elizabeth wasn’t put off by Ham’s brusque tone. That was one of the things that made Ham uncomfortable around her – Elizabeth was one of the few people (Mike being another) that could see beneath his crusty exterior.

“Well,” Elizabeth said, “when you put it that way. When do we start?”

“How about right now?”

“Now?” Elizabeth looked both excited and nervous.

“Now.” Ham grabbed a couple of mats off the pile against the wall and dragged them to a clear spot on the floor. The movement made Kyle and Shane pause their sparring.

“What are you doing?” Kyle said.

“He’s going to teach me how to take care of myself,” Elizabeth spoke up firmly, then ruined it by adding, “Don’t watch, please, I’m nervous enough as it is.”

“He’s not going to watch,” Ham assured her, and then shot a glare at Kyle and Shane to make sure. He returned his attention to Elizabeth and looked her over. “Do you have anything else you can wear for this? Shorts and a t-shirt, maybe?”

Elizabeth looked down at her outfit and shook her head as she smoothed her hands over the skirt.

“I’ll find you something to borrow,” Ham said.

“I’ve got something,” Kyle said quickly. “I think it’ll fit her.” He ducked his head and stepped off the mat, moving over to his duffle bag. Kyle knelt and rummaged around in the bag, then stood with a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt in his hand.

“They’re clean,” Kyle assured Elizabeth as he held them out to her.

Not meeting Kyle’s eyes, Elizabeth took the clothes. “Thank you.”

“Okay,” Ham said. “Everyone out while she changes. Just holler when you’re ready,” Ham told Elizabeth before ushering the other two out the door.

In the hallway, Ham crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet as he stood guard outside the closed door. Kyle and Shane stood silent, staring at the floor rather than meeting his eyes. A few minutes later Elizabeth opened the door behind Ham.

“I’m ready.”

Ham turned around and looked her over. The t-shirt was a little baggy and she’d had to roll up the bottoms of the sweat pants, but they would do. Ham stepped into the room so that Kyle and Shane could return. He shook his head at the way Kyle stared at Elizabeth and nearly tripped over his own feet.

“Thank you again,” Elizabeth said shyly, smoothing her hands over the sweats as she’d done the skirt. “For letting me borrow these.”

“That’s no problem,” Kyle said. “I mean, you’re welcome.”

Ham rolled his eyes. “Okay, lover boy, get back to work.”

Kyle and Shane returned to the mat and their sparring. Ham waved Elizabeth over to the mats he’d dragged out.

“First thing you need to do is forget about them,” Ham said, indicating the two men.

Elizabeth nodded.

“Not just for this lesson, but when it’s real. You need to be aware of your surroundings, but you can’t let yourself be distracted by them. You have to take out your own opponent before you can help anyone else, so concentrate on that.”

Elizabeth nodded again. “Okay.”

“Second thing you need to know, most of your opponents are going to be larger than you. Accept it and move on.”

“Does that mean I’m always going to lose?” Elizabeth asked.

“No,” Ham said, “because I’m going to teach you how to use their size against them. Just remember, the bigger they are . . . .”

Ham waited for Elizabeth to nod her understanding, but she just continued to stare at him, waiting for him to finish.

“The harder they fall,” Ham said. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall. It’s a saying. And it’s true.”

Elizabeth nodded, and Ham saw her lips moving as she repeated the phrase, committing it to memory.

For the next half hour Ham taught Elizabeth basic self-defense moves. By the end Kyle and Shane had given up on their own sparring and were offering encouragement to Elizabeth. Which she didn’t need. If the whole point hadn’t been to teach her how to take care of herself, it would’ve been pretty demoralizing just how quickly she caught on.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Ham said from his back on the mat.

“Need help up, old man?” Kyle said, grinning.

“I can still whoop your ass, Ace,” Ham snarled.

Laughing, Kyle led Elizabeth (who kept saying, “Thank you, Mr. Tyler” and “I’m sorry”) and Shane out of the room. The door closed behind them with a soft bang.

“How long have you been there?” Ham said.

“Long enough to see you get beat up by a little girl,” Mike replied.

“I was trying not to hurt her,” Ham said.

“Your restraint is duly noted.”

Even without seeing his face, Ham could tell that Mike was smiling.

“That was nice of you,” Mike went on. “Teaching Elizabeth how to defend herself.”

“It wasn’t nice,” Ham growled. “It was practical.”

“That, too,” Mike agreed. “And probably something we should’ve done before now.”

Ham sat up and changed the subject. “Find out anything from the boy?”

“Yeah,” Mike said, smile fading, face turning grim. “Whoever he is, he calls himself Adam, and Thomas met him at school.”

“At school?” That meant the children were in danger. They were the easiest to convert and, as Thomas has shown, the easiest to turn. “We should go find him.”

“Nothing we can do right now except get a couple hours of sleep. We know where he’ll be tomorrow. Come on.” Mike offered his hand to Ham.

Ham hated the forced inactivity, but Mike was right. He took Mike’s hand, but instead of letting Mike help him up, Ham tugged Mike down to the mat with him.

~*~*~*~

There was still an hour of darkness left before dawn when Henry pulled the Blazer over. They could’ve gotten a little further south if they kept on, gotten that much closer to their goal, but they’d learned the hard way during the first invasion that they needed to take shelter from the sun when they found it rather than pushing their luck.

Henry had gotten off the highway about fifty miles back, taking smaller roads in search of a place to stay. He turned the SUV into the parking lot of a closed restaurant with an abandoned feel that was miles from the nearest town, letting the headlights and, Tony knew, his own senses play over the building and the surrounding area.

Storm crowded Cloud aside so he could stick his head out the open window next to hers. They both sniffed the night.

“Is it safe?” Tony asked Henry, his own human eyes unable to pierce the darkness.

“It appears to be.” Henry indicated the weres. “Let them out to sniff around.”

Tony hid his grin as Cloud drew her head back inside the vehicle and glared at Henry. He got out of the Blazer and opened the rear door. Storm and Cloud jumped out and bounded away to check the perimeter.

“Let’s check out the building,” Henry said.

He’d pulled the SUV behind the restaurant, and now cut the engine and the lights. Tony had to close his eyes for a couple of seconds to get back any semblance of night vision. He reached into the truck for a flashlight and followed Henry to the back door. It was locked, but that didn’t pose a problem for Henry.

The restaurant was eerily silent, but Tony had become accustomed to searching abandoned buildings. He kept the beam of the flashlight low so it wouldn’t be seen from outside, and also in deference to Henry’s sensitive eyes. The building was empty, as if the owner’d had to sell off everything that wasn’t nailed down. The kitchen had also been partially dismantled, big gaping holes where some of the appliances had been. In the back Tony found a cooler.

The restaurant was a good place for Henry to take refuge because many of the rooms, such as the storage room, the bathrooms, and the office, didn’t have any windows. Still, there was a chance, however slim, that a stray beam of sunlight could get to Henry if, say, someone opened the back door at the same time someone else opened the door to the room in which Henry had taken shelter. This, however, would be perfect.

“I’d hoped to find a place with mattresses,” Henry said as they carried in their bedrolls. Even in the darkness he saw Tony’s raised eyebrow. “For you, Tony,” he said with a hint of exasperation.

“I don’t need a mattress,” Tony said.

It was true. During their time with the resistance, Tony had slept on floors, beneath trees, and inside their car. Not to mention the places he’d had to sleep when he’d lived on the streets of Toronto. Sure, he’d been spoiled by thick mattresses and Egyptian cotton sheets, but in the end Tony slept better knowing that Henry was safe – it didn’t matter where that was.

Storm and Cloud had finished their recon of the area and reported finding nothing. Before they went off to run and play and work off some of the energy from being cooped up in the SUV all night, Henry reminded them, “Stay alert. And take care of Tony.”

Tony shared a look with the weres at the same instruction Henry gave them nearly every night before the day broke. He didn’t make fun of Henry, though, or protest that he could take care of himself, because he felt the same way about Henry’s safety. Especially during the day when Henry was vulnerable. Which is why he’d be sleeping right outside the cooler. (He’d have slept inside if they weren’t pretty certain that the cooler was air tight.)

Tony watched Henry lay out his sleeping bag. There was still an hour before the sun rose, but Tony wasn’t sure if Henry wanted to spend that time with him. As if he could read Tony’s mind Henry raised an eyebrow as he took the bag out of Tony’s arms and unrolled it next to his own.

“Come here, Tony,” Henry said, and Tony blushed as if it was their first time.

“We have time now?” Tony wise-cracked, only in part to hide his own nervousness.

“You have something better to do?” Henry asked, raised eyebrow going straight to Tony’s dick.

Unable to think of anything sarcastic to say, Tony just shook his head. Henry took his hand and pulled him close. He raised Tony’s wrist to his face and pressed his nose to the skin, breathed in the scent of him.

“May I?” Henry said.

“Always so polite,” Tony teased, the last word coming out as a moan when Henry’s fangs broke the skin, sank into his flesh. Tony groaned softly as Henry drew the blood from his veins, unable to take his eyes off Henry’s face as he fed.

Henry had once told him that he wasn’t always thinking about sex when he fed, but there was no way for Tony to escape it. The sensation of Henry taking his blood was like a direct line to his dick. Tony liked to think that, even if Henry didn’t think about sex when he fed from anonymous donors, he was always thinking about it when he fed from Tony. From the blissful expression on Henry’s face as he drew upon blood that carried more than a hint of Tony’s arousal, Tony thought he might be right.

Henry withdrew his fangs and ran his tongue over the puncture wounds to seal them. He pulled Tony into his arms and tilted his head up to claim Tony’s mouth as he’d years ago laid claim to Tony’s heart. Tony was older now, a few inches taller than Henry, but sometimes, like now, it felt like no time at all had passed since the first time he’d seen Henry, fifteen years old and cold, scared, alone.

What _had_ changed was that Tony had grown up, and he knew exactly what he wanted. Tony didn’t wait (like he would’ve when he was nineteen and this was a new development between them) for Henry to lower them to the bags he’d spread out for them.

~*~*~*~

Ham and Mike lay on their stomachs on the roof of the building across the street from the school where Thomas had met Adam. It had once been an elementary school, but it now housed grades K-12. The number of students had declined pretty dramatically due to those still missing or killed during the first invasion, and even further when families fled north to places where the red dust was still active when the Visitors returned.

Going to school gave the children, as well as the adults, something normal to do, to hold onto, but Mike thought it also made them more of an easy target, no matter that Nathan Bates and Diana had agreed that LA would remain neutral in the current conflict between Earth and the Visitors. At least, until they’d subdued the rest of the planet or Diana got sick of waiting.

Mike lowered his binoculars and rubbed his eyes. They’d been in place since before the sun rose, wanting to make sure they could find a good vantage point and be settled before the teaching and administration staff began arriving. The students had already started arriving, and so far they’d seen no one who resembled the man they were looking for. If he was even a man.

“Thomas is here,” Ham said, his voice even more gravelly from lack of sleep.

Mike located Thomas, then placed the binoculars to his eyes so he could get a better look at him. He looked nervous, but determined. Though he’d still been worried about his friend Janet (who had actually been missing since the first invasion, he and Julie had learned, which gave Mike little hope that she was still alive), he’d been convinced by Julie and Sally that the Visitors were unlikely to turn her over no matter what Adam had promised him.

Thomas had agreed to go to school that morning so that Adam wouldn’t notice his absence and get suspicious. Mike hoped that any nerves he exhibited would be put down to the fact that he’d betrayed the rebels to Adam and the Visitors. In any case, they expected to have Adam captured (preferable to killing him despite Ham’s trigger finger so they could try to get some information out of him) before the first class bell rang, so Thomas would be in no danger.

By eight-thirty it became clear that Adam wasn’t going to show up. Or they’d somehow missed him.

“We need to go inside and show this picture around,” Mike said.

Hopefully one of the teachers or admin staff would recognize the man. If not, they were back to square one and would have to stake out the school every morning until he appeared. Right now the school was their only lead.

Ham grunted in response to Mike’s comment. Mike knew he’d rather be taking direct action against the threat than spinning their wheels. Heck, so would he. He slapped Ham’s shoulder and rolled to his feet. Mike took one last look around before leaving their rooftop perch.

They left the binoculars in the car before heading towards the school. One of the staff they’d seen arrive sat outside the school building at a picnic table. He was apparently reading a newspaper while taking a cigarette break, but Mike noted that the cigarette was burning down in the ashtray without the man once picking it up and placing it to his lips. Plus, the set of his shoulders indicated a man at attention, rather than relaxed, and there was also the tell-tale bulge of a weapon beneath the light jacket he wore.

“Security,” Ham said, having see the same thing Mike had.

Mike was pleased and impressed that the school was taking the Visitor threat seriously enough to have a guard sitting outside the building. The man looked up at their approach.

“Something I can help you gentleman with?” the security guard said, putting down the paper and giving up all pretense of reading it.

“I’m Mike Donovan,” Mike said. “This is Ham Tyler. We’re looking for someone who may work here.”

The man’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Ham set the picture on the table. Recognition replaced suspicion, but all he said was, “What do you want with him?”

Mike quickly weighed his options. He could come up with a lie, or he could tell the truth. The man seemed sharp enough to catch the lie and Mike thought he’d seen something besides recognition when he’d been shown the photo.

“We think he may have passed some important information on to the Visitors,” Mike said. He ignored Ham grinding his teeth beside him.

The man shook his head. “Not Adam,” he said, but he didn’t sound one hundred percent convinced of that. “Not normally, anyway. But the last couple of weeks . . . .”

“He’s been acting strange?” Ham said.

“Yeah,” the man agreed sadly. “I mean, he’d do anything to protect these kids. He’s the one that suggested consolidating the schools, and setting up security so they’d be safe.”

It was possible that he’d lost someone to the Visitors, and that they had somehow gotten to him, used him to ferret out information about the resistance. Maybe even threatened the children. But why him? That was a question that would have to wait. Right now they needed to find him and make sure he hadn’t passed on that information to anyone else.

“What’s his name?” Mike asked.

“Adam. Adam Dalling. He’s the psychologist here. Well, was for the elementary school, now for all the students here.”

Which would give him the perfect opportunity to feel out the children and discover which ones might have information to share, and of those, which ones he could break.

“He here today?” Ham asked.

“No, he didn’t come in today,” the man said.

“You remember this off the top of your head?” Ham said, always the suspicious one.

“I make it a point to remember the staff and students who miss a day. Given the circumstances we can’t be too careful. Come with me.”

The man rose. “Bernie Rhodes.” Mike shook his hand and Rhodes offered it to Ham. Once he’d introduced himself Rhodes led the way into the school, leaving the newspaper, which Mike now saw was a week old, behind.

Right inside the door they turned into a room on their left. There was a bank of monitors, including one covering the picnic table where Rhodes had been seated. A woman sat in a chair monitoring the screens. She too wore casual clothes and a gun in the shoulder holster beneath her jacket.

“Carrie Reese,” Rhodes said, indicating the woman. “Donovan and Tyler.”

Reese nodded.

“Check today’s list for Adam Dalling,” Rhodes told her.

“He didn’t check in,” Reese said as she took a clipboard off the nail it hung on and flipped the page. She ran her finger down the list of names until she reached Dalling, where a red ‘X’ indicated that he hadn’t checked in that morning, just as they’d both recalled.

Mike sighed. He could tell that Ham was equally frustrated not being able to confront Adam, not being able to keep him from passing on more information to the Visitors. Still, they might be able to discover something about Dalling from his office.

Rhodes led them to Dalling’s office, leaving Reese with instructions to call him if she saw anything suspicious, or if Dalling showed up. Ham went over the desk top and through the drawers; Mike looked at the framed photos and perused the books on the shelves, pulling them out to see if there was anything hidden between the pages.

Mike looked at the chairs in front of the desk and imagined the unsuspecting students sitting there as Dalling hooked his claws into them – sounding sympathetic when he told them they could talk about people they’d lost, giving them a boost of patriotism when he suggested it might make them feel better if their parents or someone they knew was offering assistance to the rebels, until he found just the right student (or students – who knew how much information had been passed on that they didn’t know about) to cultivate. What would you, a young child, be willing to do to get back your friend, or sister, or grandmother?

Adam Dalling had hit the mother lode when he’d found Thomas Canton. And now, with a word in the right ear he’d be able to deal the resistance a huge blow. Mike didn’t know what information the courier was bringing, but it was big enough that Vancouver was afraid to entrust it to even a coded communication. Whatever it was, the Visitors couldn’t be allowed to get hold of it.

“Anything?” Mike asked Ham, though he already knew the answer.

“Nothing,” Ham said in disgust. “Except this.” He held up the name plate that sat on the top of the desk and clearly proclaimed Adam Dalling’s name.

The problem with that was Thomas had proclaimed not to know his last name, or even who he was, just someone at the school. “Is Dalling the psychologist for the entire school?”

Rhodes nodded. “Is now. High school had their own psychologist, but he left LA after the Visitors returned.” Rhodes frowned. “Used to be he met with the students in his office if they were referred to him, or caused trouble, or asked to see him, but lately I’ve seen him talking with some of the older students in the cafeteria or during recess.”

“Not meeting with them in his office?” Ham said as he set the name plate back down.

“No, which was odd, because Mr. Dalling used to be a stickler for privacy.”

Mike nodded to himself. Which was probably how he’d met Thomas, and why Thomas hadn’t known his last name, or even his position here at the school. Dalling must have been very good at what he did to make Thomas feel comfortable enough to open up and tell him things about the resistance.

“We need his home address,” Mike said, then pointed to one of the photos. “What’s his wife’s name?”

Rhodes shook his head. “I don’t know, but it should be in his file.”

Mike and Ham waited in the security office with Reese while Rhodes went to the administration office. He returned five minutes later with a slip of paper that he handed to Mike.

“I included his wife’s contact information, as well,” Rhodes said as Mike glanced down at the paper.

Mike didn’t recognize Adam Dalling’s wife’s name, Elsie Dalling, but he did recognize her place of employment: Science Frontiers.

“We may have a bigger problem,” Mike said, and handed the slip to Ham.

~*~*~*~

Tony woke up with his back against the door to the cooler and the unpleasant scent of wolf breath in his nostrils. He cracked open an eye and his field of vision, albeit limited, was filled with furry muzzle. “What?” he grumbled.

“Leave him alone,” Rose said, poking a bare toe into Storm’s side.

Tony was afraid to look up, but when he did he was happy to see that Rose was dressed in a wrinkled sundress she’d pulled out of their bag. “What’s he want?” Tony slurred.

“Someone to throw frisbee for him,” Rose said, digging her fingers into the ruff between Storm’s shoulders. “My arm got tired.”

“Time is it?”

Rose picked up Tony’s wrist to look at the watch he wore. “Two forty-three.”

Tony felt like he’d just closed his eyes. He didn’t know if it was the hard floor, being separated from Henry, even if only by a door, or the fact that they were headed to LA, the virtual heart of the Visitor occupation. They hadn’t talked about it because Tony didn’t want to give Henry a reason to think he should’ve left him behind, but Tony was worried.

The year of freedom from the Visitors, and the few months hearing about atrocities being committed elsewhere but being spared them because of the red dust had given Tony the illusion of safety. This was the first time their team would be in any real danger since the end of the first invasion. Tony wasn’t afraid for himself so much as for his companions. Especially Henry, who’d first become a friend and sort-of caretaker, and then become his lover.

Tony could barely remember what his life had been like before Henry, and he didn’t want to be forcibly reminded. Instead of thinking about it now, Tony decided that a little bit more sleep would be in order. “Ten more minutes, mom,” Tony said, and pulled the sleeping bag over his head.

Storm whined, but Tony ignored him. Storm sniffed at the top of the sleeping back, then found an opening he could work his nose into. He nudged Tony with his cold nose. Tony whipped the sleeping bag back and glared at Storm, who just doggy grinned back at him. Not that Tony would ever call him a doggy out loud.

“Fine,” Tony grumbled. “But only because I have to pee.”

Tony pulled on his boots and went to find a tree without bothering to tie them. He nearly tripped and fell on his face when Storm, who was prancing excitedly and bumping into Tony’s legs, stepped on a loose shoelace. Tony heard a giggle behind him, but by the time he’d recovered and looked back Rose was innocently shaking out the sleeping bag.

Tony threw the frisbee until it felt like his arm was going to fall off. He opened a bottle of water and drank half of it down in one go, then poured the rest into a bowl for Storm, whose tongue was hanging out. Tony opened a can of beans and dug in without bothering to heat them. He offered the can to Rose, but she shook her head. “We’ve already eaten.”

Tony didn’t want to think about what they’d found in the woods to eat. He jumped when Peter placed a hand on his shoulder (even after two years, Tony was surprised at how easily and quickly they could change form), but automatically offered up a spoonful of beans. Peter had a black hole for a stomach, Tony had determined, in either form.

When the can was empty Tony set it on the floor of the Blazer. They’d need to fill up the tank again soon and he could dump it in the trash at the gas station. When he pulled his head out of the vehicle, Rose and Peter were sitting on the hood, shoulders touching, heads bent together as they spoke in low tones. Peter, Tony was glad to note, had pulled on a pair of shorts after he’d changed form.

Not that Tony was a prude. You didn’t spend time hustling on the street and have an issue with nudity. At least not in general. But seeing Rose or Peter naked was almost like seeing a sibling naked. There were some things you just didn’t need to see, and that included Peter’s junk.

Tony opened the compartment in the back of the SUV and did a mental inventory of the weapons and ammunition they had available, even though he’d just stocked it the day before and they hadn’t used any of it. The farther south they went, the greater the chance they’d need it, and he wanted to be prepared. He let his eyes move over the confiscated laser pistols and rifles, the special ammunition for the M16s and handguns, and finally, the smoke bomb canisters. He’d never used a smoke bomb before, and he hoped they wouldn’t have to on this trip. Using a smoke bomb meant they’d run into a bunch of Visitors they couldn’t fight their way free of with just their smarts or the other weapons at hand.

Tony checked the back up weapons in the consol and the extra clips. Rose and Peter had moved off to the woods, so Tony took his own gun apart and spread the pieces out on the hood. He cleaned his weapon and reassembled it. There was still time before the sun set, so Tony pulled out the map Henry had stuffed between the seat and the console and looked it over again.

The further south they went, the less they could count on being able to stay on the highway. He noted the spots where checkpoints and regular patrols had been reported, as well as the side roads they could travel safely.

“You’re gonna go blind if you keep trying to read that in this light.”

Tony smiled and flicked off the flashlight he’d been forced to pull out. He turned around to face Henry, who, aside from the sleep tousled hair, looked like he could’ve stepped right off the page of an LL Bean catalogue. Tony didn’t say that out loud. The last time he’d said anything like that Henry hadn’t spoken to him for hours, except to tell him to duck when they’d surprised a Visitor patrol that had immediately started shooting at them.

“Evening,” Tony said, keeping his arms at his sides so he didn’t reach for Henry. It was too soon for Henry to feed from him again, but Tony had to ask, “Do you need to feed?”

“I’m good,” Henry said. The way he said it went straight to Tony’s dick. His smile told Tony that he knew that.

“Hey, Henry,” Rose said.

“How was your walk?” Henry said.

While they spoke, Tony took the rolled up sleeping bag from Henry and packed it in the back of the SUV. Tony locked up the back, making sure that the hidden compartment was secure. By the time he returned to the front of the vehicle, Peter and Rose had moved on to telling Henry about all the things they’d seen and smelled in the woods while they’d been in wolf from. Henry was listening with half an ear, the rest of his attention on the map Tony had left open on the hood. Tony had already heard all about the squirrels they’d chased and the scent trails they’d followed, so he watched Henry study the map.

“We’re going to have to get off the highway before we get here,” Henry said, pointing to a mark on the map that represented a Visitor checkpoint.

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “And we’ll need to keep an eye out, make sure they haven’t moved any further north. I thought we could take this road around the checkpoint, then we have the option of getting back on the highway or staying on the back roads.”

Henry nodded, though Tony knew he’d probably already decided to stay on the back roads. Henry’s motto, at least where Tony was concerned, was ‘better safe than sorry’.

“Okay, let’s get going,” Henry said. “Take a piss before you get in the car, because we’re not stopping five minutes down the road to let anyone out.”

Tony bit back a grin as Henry stared down Peter, who looked abashed.

“It was one time, sheesh!” Peter said, but obediently walked over to the woods.

“Do you want to stay in that form for a while?” Henry asked Rose as he folded up the map. “We can put the seat up.”

“I think I will, but Peter will probably want to change,” Rose said, and then she grinned.

Tony followed her gaze and saw Storm loping back towards them, the shorts Peter had been wearing clutched in his teeth. Henry shook his head as Rose took the shorts from Storm and opened the back door so they could both clamber into the back.

While they were otherwise occupied getting settled, Henry hooked Tony’s chin in his fingers and drew his face close. He pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. “Good evening.”

Tony caught Henry’s mouth before he could pull away and deepened the kiss. They didn’t break apart until Storm’s bark interrupted them. Smiling softly, Tony said, “Now it is.”

~*~*~*~

Ham hated waiting, but unless they wanted to tip their hand there was nothing else for him to do. They’d searched Dalling’s house and there had been no indication that Adam or his wife had been there in the last couple of weeks. There had been dust on the furniture and rotting food in the refrigerator, which hadn’t been a good sign. Unpaid bills sat on the desk in the den and the last entry in the checkbook was two weeks ago. They went through every room in the house. There was no sign of a struggle, but also no sign of the Dallings.

There had also been no sign of Elsie Dalling’s purse, in which she probably kept her ID and the swipe card that would grant her access to Science Frontiers. Mike had used the Dalling’s phone to call Julie. She’d managed to hack into the employee records to determine that Elsie Dalling was indeed an employee of Science Frontiers, and then into the security logs to confirm that Elsie Dalling, or someone using her swipe card, had checked into work that morning.

Ham had wanted to rush right down there and confront her, drag her out, but cooler heads had prevailed. Julie would come up with a pretext to visit Elsie Dalling’s section of the lab to see if she could determine whether the woman was human or had been replaced by a lizard wearing an Elsie mask. Now they were waiting for Julie to call them and let them know what she’d discovered.

Ham wasn’t used to sitting idly by and waiting while someone else did the work. That was wrong, though, the more he thought about it. In the field they’d each had their own specialties, it was just that he’d felt more in control then. The answer, then, was for him to gain a measure of control in this situation. Which meant he had to figure out what the lizards were up to.

Elsie Dalling worked for Science Frontiers, the company that had manufactured the red dust and that was owned by Nathan Bates, the man who had named himself the provisional administrator of Los Angeles when he’d made it an open city. Through her, the Visitors could gain access to the red dust research, more specifically, the antidote, or just have a spy inside Nathan’s organization. Even though they had come to an arrangement, he had to be a thorn in Diana’s side.

Elsie Dalling had probably been their original target, Adam Dalling had merely been a bonus. It was just their bad luck that he’d managed to get hold of the hot potato information about the courier from Vancouver. Just then Mike came in and interrupted Ham’s train of thought.

“Have you heard from Julie?” Ham asked.

“No,” Mike said, “but I have heard about a transport. Wanna go shoot some lizards?”

Transports delivering humans to the Visitor processing plants were well-guarded. Ham was usually the one to urge caution. He didn’t believe in throwing away resources for little or no gain. But Mike had caught him at a good time, and the bastard knew it. He really did need to go shoot something.

“When and where?” Ham asked, already rising to his feet.

Mike gave him a knowing grin. “Riverside at sundown.”

That was an hour’s drive, assuming they didn’t have to dodge any lizard patrols, which meant they didn’t have much time to plan the operation. But they also didn’t know how long it would take Julie to get back to them, and there was no sense sitting around twiddling his thumbs when he could be taking out his frustration on lizards.

“Do we know the layout of the detention center there?”

Mike placed a hand drawn map of the building and surrounding area on the table before Ham had finished speaking. “It’s cursory,” he admitted. “We’ll have to do some recon before we go in, make sure we haven’t missed anything.”

Ham was accustomed to having more time to plan his missions, but they didn’t have that luxury during this war. Tips came in and sometimes you had to jump on them, whether you thought it was a good idea or not.

~*~

There were seven of them, all they could round up on such short notice. Instead of thinking they were undermanned for the task at hand, Ham preferred to consider them a strike team. They were all dressed in Visitor uniforms. The plan was to infiltrate and attack from the inside. The uniforms would allow them to do that, as well as keep the lizards from knowing right off the bat who the enemy was. It would buy them some time and hopefully keep any of them from getting shot.

Ham was usually the cynical one, but as it turned out he’d been too optimistic in this case because things went fubar almost right from the start. A recon of the area gave them a better insertion point. They only had to eliminate one lizard to gain entry to the detention center. They’d tossed Elizabeth over the gate and she’d opened it to let them in, and then they left Elias with Willie and Elizabeth to hold their exit.

Ham, Mike, Kyle and Shane executed the infiltration flawlessly, fitting themselves seamlessly into the ranks of lizards guarding the human cargo. The lizards had already started loading the transport shuttle, so they had to wait to start shooting lest the prisoners they were there to rescue got caught in the crossfire. Before the last prisoner was safely inside the transport, though, an alarm was raised.

The lizards had found the truck they’d brought with them to ferry the prisoners to safety once they’d been freed. Ham swore as the lizards went on alert. They’d lost the element of surprise, but the lizards still didn’t know that the fox was already in the hen house, so they still had that in their favor.

“Quickly now,” Mike called out, “get them all loaded up!”

Ham knew, as if he and Mike had talked it out, exactly what Mike had planned. Just imagine the craziest, most outrageous plan ever, and that’s what Mike would do. “God damn it, Donovan,” Ham swore.

Without even attempting to argue with him, Ham called out, “We need a defensive perimeter! Surround the ship and keep watch for the rebels. They’re out there somewhere!”

Even though neither Mike nor Ham were their leaders, the lizards were like any troop of men used to being led and they responded to the commands, some urging the humans along faster, others turning their backs on the ship and assuming a defensive posture.

“Go with Donovan,” Ham told Kyle, and then he moved up the line of lizards, exhorting them to make sure the rebels didn’t get through, making sure they paid more attention to their fear of a rebel attack than to the transport.

Some shots sounded from the direction of the gate where they’d left the others. The fact that they’d used their guns rather than the laser pistols gave Ham hope that they were providing a distraction rather than that they’d been discovered, but in either case he couldn’t worry about them right now.

“It’s the rebels!” Ham yelled, making use of the distraction, if that’s what it had been. “Go, go, go!”

Not knowing who had issued the order, half a dozen lizards formed up and ran off in the direction from where the shots had come.

“Keep your eyes open!” Ham commanded as more of the lizards turned away from the prisoners to guard their perimeter.

More gunshots came from the gate and Ham gritted his teeth, but it had the benefit of making the lizards more alert on everything but the transport. One of the actual lizard leaders sent out another patrol to back up the first. In the meantime, the last prisoner was loaded onto the transport. By the time one of the lizards turned to check on it, the shuttle door was sliding shut.

“Hey!” the lizard yelled. He raised his laser rifle to shoot, his blast glancing harmlessly off the closed door.

“Get that door open!” one of the lizards ordered and another rushed over to the transport to do his bidding.

As soon as Ham knew where the controls were he shot the lizard in the back with the laser pistol at his hip, and then the control panel so the door couldn’t be opened from the outside. He immediately dropped down to the ground and yelled out, “Rebels!”

The lizards were thrown into chaos for a moment, not knowing whether to concentrate on the transport or the ‘attacking rebels’, but it was enough. By the time the leaders had regained control and set some of the lizards to the task of getting into the transport, and others to guarding their perimeter, the transport was powering up.

The lizards gave up trying to gain access to the transport and opened fire on it in an attempt to disable it before it left the ground. Ham positioned himself back to back with a lizard guarding the perimeter and opened fire, hitting his ‘fellow’ lizards instead of the transport. A glance to his right showed him Shane doing the same thing. At first none of the lizards noticed their numbers being reduced, but when the sound of laser fire diminished it drew some attention.

Ham elbowed the lizard right behind him in the face when he turned around, then shot the one next to him. Ham was buffeted by the air as the ship lifted off the ground behind him. Yells of dismay and anger filled his ears, and Ham knew that it was only a matter of seconds before the lizards realized that he and Shane were part of the resistance.

In the distance he heard the sound of a horn beeping madly, and saw a Jeep careening towards them wildly. Ham dove for the ground when the gun mounted on the Jeep started spewing laser blasts in their direction. After the initial burst of laser fire, the lizards also hit the ground. From his position on his stomach, Ham took out the ones closest to him.

It was over in moments, the lizards having originally thought that the Jeep bore reinforcements for their team and not taking cover quickly enough. Ham slowly rose to his feet when the shooting stopped. He and Shane checked the dozen lizards, making sure that none of them remained alive. Convinced that they were all dead, Ham raised his eyes to the sky and followed the path of the disappearing transport ship.

Only then did Ham walk over to the Jeep. Elizabeth sat in the driver’s seat, fingers white knuckled around the steering wheel, eyes filled with terror and excitement. Willie clung to the roll bar and Elias was in the back with the gun.

“Who taught you how to drive?” Ham asked Elizabeth.

“No one!” Elizabeth said, sounding surprised.

“We’ll need to remedy that,” Ham said. “Now move over.”

“Where’s Kyle?”

“He’s in that ship with Donovan,” Ham growled.

Elizabeth scrambled into the passenger seat. Ham holstered his weapon and slid behind the wheel. He directed the Jeep back towards the gate, slowing only long enough for Shane to dump a couple of fully charged batteries into the back of the Jeep, and then jump in himself.

“Hold on,” Ham said as he sped up again, not waiting for anyone to actually do so. “We need to follow that ship.” And Mike.

“I can do that,” Elizabeth said.

“You can see it?” Elias said, scanning the sky.

“I can feel it.”

Ham didn’t care if Elizabeth used her freaky deeky powers, as long as she used them for the resistance. He headed for the truck they’d left behind (sparing only a glance for the Visitor bodies they passed), hoping that none of the lizards remained guarding it. He let Shane off and they drove past the truck while Shane approached on foot. There were no lizards.

“Follow us,” Ham said, and then waited impatiently for Shane to climb into the truck and get it started. He glanced over his shoulder to see Elias replacing the discharged battery with one that was fully charged and nodded in approval.

As soon as he heard the truck start Ham put the Jeep in gear. “Let’s find that ship.”

“We’re still going to be able to save them, right?” Elizabeth said.

“Yeah,” Ham drawled, “we’re gonna save them.” And then he was going to kill Mike for making him worry.

~*~*~*~

Tony sat tense in the passenger seat as Henry drove the Blazer along a back road.

“I can see perfectly well where we’re going,” Henry said lightly, trying to put Tony at ease.

“I know that,” Tony said, his voice tight.

“Then what’s the problem?” Henry said as he swerved to miss the remains of a skunk.

Storm whined when the scent reached his nostrils.

Tony gripped the chicken strap even harder and gritted out, “I hate being in the dark. Literally.”

Henry had doused the headlights when they came within five miles of the first checkpoint. Driving at night kept you hidden only if there was other traffic to blend into or no one was actively looking for you. The Visitors might not know that Henry and his team specifically were attempting to get past them, but they were on the lookout for anyone attempting to flee in any direction. Rumor had it that they got credit for the number of humans they captured, which explained their diligence and why the area they were now passing through had an abandoned feel to it.

They also had shuttle craft they used to do flyovers, which meant staying off the highway wasn’t precaution enough. They could’ve tried to miss this particular checkpoint by going way around, but chances were that maneuver would merely put them inside the territory of another Visitor patrol without their being aware of it. So Henry took the wheel and drove with the headlights off, the wolves in the back riding with their heads out the windows, scenting the air in hopes of smelling any lizards that might be out patrolling before they noticed the SUV.

Henry wasn’t worried about making it past the checkpoint – they’d fought their way through Visitor patrols before – but with getting by unnoticed. Their mission was a stealth one, and it wouldn’t do to draw Visitor attention the moment they got within Visitor-patrolled area. Henry had his own senses alert, which is how he knew that Tony was unnerved by this portion of the trip. Once they reached more populated areas they could hide in plain sight, but until then Tony needed to be distracted.

“I’m a pretty good driver,” Henry said.

“I know that,” Tony replied.

“I mean, I’ve been driving longer than you’ve been alive.”

“I know that, too,” Tony said dryly.

“I drove one of the first moving vehicles they ever made.”

“I know that, Henry!”

Henry smiled. “I’m just trying to reassure you.”

“I’m reassured, okay?”

Storm yipped at Tony and prodded him with what Henry knew from experience was a cold nose. Henry grinned as Tony batted at the nose Storm had already stuck back out the window. The grin fell off his face when Cloud growled deep in her throat. Henry pulled the Blazer off the road into the first bit of cover he could find, slim as it was, and cut the engine. He stepped out of the vehicle and Cloud, not waiting for him to open the back door, jumped into the front seat and then leapt out beside him.

“Which way?” Henry said, even as he sought with his own senses. He heard the sound of an engine before he smelled the distinctive scent of the lizards, but only barely.

He couldn’t manipulate the minds of the Visitors, so it was imperative that they remain undetected. The only other option would be to kill them, which Henry was happy to do, and Storm and Cloud even happier. They could do so silently and continue on their way, but the Visitors would be missed when they didn’t check in, and then they would be put on alert.

Henry walked around the SUV to where Tony stood, Storm at his side. Henry took the gun Tony handed him, hoping he wouldn’t need it, and dropped it into the pocket of his leather duster. He looked up and down the road for a place to hide the Blazer. If the Visitors came past them now, they’d certainly see the vehicle pulled off to the side of the road.

Unfortunately there were no driveways or a convenient copse of trees. It was a four-wheel drive vehicle for a reason, but in order to pull off the road far enough to be outside the range of the spotlight mounted to the Jeeps the Visitors drove he’d have to navigate a ditch. The only other option Henry could think of that wouldn’t give their presence away was keeping the Visitors from coming down the road this far.

“Stay with Tony,” Henry commanded, and then raced down the road looking for a tree that would suit his purpose. After half a mile he finally found a tree close enough to the road that wasn’t too thick. He braced himself and kicked the trunk. It took three kicks before Henry heard a satisfying crunch that meant he’d cracked the trunk enough to push it over. He heaved, and the tree toppled, blocking the road. While it wouldn’t be difficult to move, the full branches at the top gave it a deceptively large appearance, and he hoped that the Visitors would think it not worth the effort, figuring that if they were blocked from using the road, others would be as well.

Henry sped back to the SUV. Tony wasn’t where he’d left him. When he’d seen what Henry was doing he went to the back and retrieved additional weapons. Tony understood as well as Henry, and as well as Storm and Cloud if the raised fur on their backs was any indication, that if the Visitors didn’t turn back they’d have to fight. Tony held out one of the smoke bomb canisters, knowing that Henry’s aim and distance were better than his own, especially in the darkness. He squeezed Tony’s hand before taking the cannister from him. They separated – Tony and Henry to some brush beside the road that would just barely hide them, and Storm and Cloud on their bellies in the ditch on the other side of the road – and waited.

Henry saw the spotlight shining bright as it played along the road and over the fields on either side of it. Tony slipped a pair of sunglasses into Henry’s hand, which offered some protection to his sensitive eyes. The headlights appeared over the rise and Henry shifted his eyes away from their glare. Tony’s breathing seemed loud in the otherwise silent night, but he remained still. Like any predator, Henry was used to remaining motionless for as long as it took him to capture his prey, but that stillness was something Tony’d had to learn. They both went on alert when the Jeep stopped a few yards back from the downed tree.

Tony held his breath as the spotlight played over the area even though they and the Blazer were out of its range. Henry gauged the distance between them when one of the Visitors jumped off the Jeep and approached the tree. As Henry had hoped, none of them wanted to move it, especially at night. The area had been quiet, and they’d grown complacent. Henry relaxed when the Visitor got back into the Jeep. It was turned around and pointed back in the direction from which it had come.

Henry waited until he could no longer see the headlights or hear the engine before moving from his hiding place. He handed the extra weapons and canister back to Tony, who groaned as he straightened and stretched his back, then went to move the tree so they could get the SUV by it. With a silent apology to anyone who might need to use it, he blocked the road once Tony had driven the Blazer past, not wanting to raise any suspicions among the Visitors.

Henry rubbed his hands together to remove bits of bark and glanced up at the sky before getting back into the SUV, even though he didn’t need to. He could feel the sun, always, like an itch under his skin that grew more insistent as dawn drew nearer. They still had several hours before the sun rose, but they needed to get past this checkpoint and outside the area this group of Visitors patrolled before they could look for a place to spend the day.

“Stay alert,” Henry told the weres. They’d escaped this patrol once, but the irony would kill him if they ran into them again further up the road, or came upon another patrol.

Headlights off, Henry pulled back onto the road. The wolves had their heads out the windows. One of the Visitor’s laser pistols lay across Tony’s lap, held in a white-knuckled grip.

~*~*~*~

Ham was waiting impatiently at the foot of the ramp when Mike finally got the door open. The sight of his scowl and the arms crossed over his chest brought a smile to Mike’s face and almost made him forget the cut that throbbed on his cheek and the bruises he was sure were blooming beneath the uniform. All earned as he and Kyle had fought their way through the guards on the transport until they’d reached the cockpit.

Kyle (and the prisoners, who’d fought back once they realized that rescue was at hand) kept the rest of the Visitors off Mike while he’d powered up the ship and flew it off. He’d only been able to spare a brief moment to worry about Ham and the others left behind on the ground.

“Get in the truck,” Ham told the refugees that trailed down the ramp behind Mike. “We need to get out of here and under cover before they realize something’s wrong and send out a scout.”

Mike’s ribs twinged when he was buffeted as the former prisoners picked up their pace and hurried over to the truck. Elias and Shane assisted the people onto the truck while Elizabeth made sure that Kyle was alright. Willie hung back, unsure of whether he should approach the scared humans.

“You found us,” Mike said when he reached Ham.

“No thanks to you,” Ham said, eyeing the cut. “Keep moving!” he barked when someone stumbled.

“They’re tired,” Mike said softly.

“Better tired than lizard food,” Ham said in a tone that betrayed little compassion.

Mike knew better. “I’m fine,” he said.

Ham glared at him.

Mike bit back a smile and changed the subject. “Can we salvage the rest of the plan?”

Ham glanced up, checking the night sky for Visitor craft. “With some variation,” he admitted grudgingly. “We’re a little further out.” Ham glared pointedly at the parking lot in which Mike had landed the transport. “But we’ve got the Jeep, so we’ll look a little more official.”

Just as Ham said that, Kyle and Elizabeth released the banners on the sides of the truck. The heavy canvas sides were now camouflaged with the Visitor logo. They’d be safe from Visitor patrols, unless someone asked too many questions. Getting back into LA, where Nathan Bates had enacted a curfew, was a different matter. They’d drop the humans that had been destined for the processing plant at one of their safe houses outside the city. Then they needed to hide the truck and Jeep and sneak back into LA so they could meet with Julie.

Mike clapped Ham on the arm. “Piece of cake.”

Ham snorted, then looked at Mike again. “I hope the other guy looks worse.”

“Well, he’s dead, so . . . .”

Ham nodded, then indicated the ship with a point of his chin. “What are we going to do with this?”

“Too large to hide,” Mike said. He wished they had a secure warehouse large enough to store the ship in should they ever need it again, but they didn’t have enough manpower. “But they won’t be able to fly it again.” Mike had made sure of that by destroying the flight controls.

“Come on, let’s go,” Mike said when Shane closed the back of the truck, hiding their human cargo from prying eyes. He strode towards the truck.

“You’re not driving,” Ham said as he fell into step beside Mike.

“Why not?”

Ham hmmphed, but didn’t bother answering otherwise.

“I’m not a bad driver,” Mike went on. “You’re just a control freak,” he added when Ham didn’t rise to the bait.

“Wrong,” Ham said. “I just like to be in control of what I can when the situation is spiraling out of control.”

“And by situation you mean me?”

“I didn’t say that,” Ham drawled. “But if the shoe fits . . . .”

“Kyle, Elizabeth, you ride in the truck with Shane,” Mike said, ignoring Ham and the throb in his side that reminded him of an especially powerful kick he’d taken.

Elizabeth looked pleased to be put with Kyle, but Mike figured she’d be safer in the truck than in the lead vehicle. And if anyone would keep her safe it would be Kyle.

“Follow us,” Mike told Shane. “If we get separated, you know where to go.”

Shane nodded and climbed into the truck. Elias and Willie trotted after Mike and Ham towards the Jeep. Mike slipped into the passenger seat without argument. He wasn’t going to tell Ham, but he didn’t think his ribs would appreciate him trying to steer the Jeep. Besides, from the suspicious look Ham gave him, Mike knew his acquiescence would eat at him the entire ride as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

~*~*~*~

Tony flexed his fingers. They were still stiff from the grip he’d had on the rifle. It had been perilously close to sunrise (in Tony’s estimation) before they’d been far enough past the Visitor check point for Henry’s comfort. By the time they found an abandoned barn off the road, Tony had been checking his watch every thirty seconds despite Henry’s calm, “I’ve still got time.”

Henry pulled the Blazer inside the barn and they found an old feed bin to serve as Henry’s bed for the night. Henry prepared his sleeping place with quick, efficient movements that belied his assurances to Tony: scooping out moldy grain and mouse droppings, padding the bottom with some of the loose hay they found in a stall, and lining the box with the tarp. Henry took his duster off and folded it up to act as a pillow.

“Take care of Tony,” Henry told the weres after they returned from scouting the area around the barn.

Cloud barked her reply; Storm raised up on his back legs and placed his front paws on Henry’s chest. It looked to Tony like the two of them were communicating silently, and then Storm licked Henry’s face.

“Thank you,” Henry said wryly. His nose wrinkled with distaste. “Did you eat something dead while you were out there?”

Storm’s tongue lolled out and Tony would swear that he was laughing. He let Henry push him back down to all fours. Henry took Tony’s hand and squeezed it. “Be careful.”

Tony squeezed back. “I will. Come on, let’s get you all tucked in.”

Henry raised an eyebrow. Tony couldn’t tell if he was amused or storing that away for future payback. Tony kissed Henry on the lips, wishing they had more time, then stood back and watched him step into the bin. When Henry was settled comfortably, Tony said, “My very own sleeping beauty.”

Henry glared at him, which made Tony smile, and then the glare was gone, replaced by an expressionless mask as Henry was taken by the day. Tony drew the edges of the tarp over Henry, covering him completely, and then tucked in the ends. He spread some more hay over the tarp to keep Henry hidden in case anyone searched the barn, and then closed the lid.

Tony set watches. This far south it was better to play it safe. He took the first watch because he was too wound up to sleep anyway. He walked the inside of the perimeter of the barn, looking out the broken windows as the sky lightened. The barn sat in what once might have been a pasture before scrub and brush had reclaimed it. The dust they’d raised when they’d turned down the dirt lane had long since settled and there was no sign of their passing.

Tony climbed up to the hayloft, careful where he stepped as the floor creaked under his weight. Keeping to the side, Tony looked out the door where an old rusted elevator once carried bales of hay to the loft. From up here he could see for miles in both directions. Tony dragged over a bale of hay and then climbed back down the rickety ladder for a sleeping bag to protect his butt from the prickly hay. Storm and Cloud were curled up together in a puppy pile beside the feed bin.

Tony tucked his gun into his waistband, and his arm through the ties keeping the bag rolled, and returned to the loft. Every twenty minutes Tony got up and walked around, making sure he didn’t fall asleep or just start staring at nothing. A couple hours into his watch Peter’s head poked into the loft. Tony jerked his eyes away when he realized that Peter was naked and let out an involuntary, “Peter!”

“Sorry,” Peter said, not sounding sorry at all. “I couldn’t climb up here on four feet.”

He’d barely finished speaking before he was furry again, his nose nudging at Tony’s hand until he gave in and rubbed his ears. Storm whined until Tony pulled over another bale for him, and again until Tony spread out the sleeping bag. Tony had to bite his lip to keep from grinning when Storm jumped up and turned in circles, pawing at the bag before dropping down onto his belly and laying his head across Tony’s lap.

“I thought you came up to keep me company,” Tony said, “but you just came for the ear rubs.”

Storm didn’t bother trying to deny it. Tony kept watch as he petted Storm, glad for the company even if Storm had an ulterior motive in joining him. A couple more hours passed, and Rose appeared. Thankfully she wore the sundress.

“I’ll take the next watch,” Rose said. “You go get some sleep.”

Tony wasn’t sure he could, but he let Rose take his place on the hay, Storm lifting his head just long enough to let Rose get settled before dropping it back down again. Rose bent down and kissed the top of Storm’s head before she ran her hand over his head and down his back. Storm let out a little rumble of pleasure. Tony climbed down the ladder and left them alone.

Tony got another sleeping bag out of the Blazer. He carried it over to the closed barn doors and looked out the cracks at the overgrown field. After a few minutes he unrolled the bag next to the feed bin, spreading it out on a soft pile of loose hay. Tony didn’t bother getting inside it, just lay on top of it, staring up at the ceiling, where beams of light and bits of hay fell through the cracks. He didn’t think he was going to be able to fall asleep.

The sun was low in the sky when Tony woke up. He took a moment to orient himself before opening his eyes. The barn was silent and he was alone. The insistent press of his bladder got Tony moving. He reached out and placed his palm against the side of the feed bin that sheltered Henry and then rolled to his feet. He went to the back corner and relieved himself.

Tony’s stomach reminded him that it had been a while since he’d eaten anything. They’d picked up sandwiches the last time they’d stopped for gas, but driving with the lights off at night had not been conducive to swallowing food, much less keeping it down. Tony found the cooler and took out the sandwiches. The inside of the cooler was still cold, but he was so hungry he wasn’t sure if it would’ve mattered if it hadn’t been.

Tony carried the bag of sandwiches up the ladder. He peered warily at Peter and Rose as he stepped into the loft. Peter sat on the bale of hay; he’d been looking out the door, but had turned his attention to Tony, probably when he’d smelled the food.

“Sandwiches,” Tony said, raising the bag.

Rose lay sleeping with her head on Peter’s leg, and Peter’s fingers combed through her hair. Rose’s hair covered Peter’s crotch, and from his angle Tony couldn’t tell if Peter was naked or not. “Are you wearing shorts?” he asked suspiciously.

Peter grinned. “Why do you want to know?”

Tony rolled his eyes as he settled on the hay at Peter’s feet. He fished out two sandwiches and handed one to Peter. They ate in silence, both too hungry to eat slowly. When they were done, Tony dropped his head back against Peter’s knee and looked out the hay door. Dusk was settling in. He closed his eyes and tried to bite back the moan when Peter’s fingers combed through his hair and kneaded at his scalp.

“It’s only fair,” Peter said, which made Tony laugh.

Rose stirred. She sniffed the air. “Mmm, hungry.”

Tony handed up the bag that held the last sandwich. Rose took it from him and sat up, dug out the sandwich and bit into it. She made noises that reminded Tony of nights spent with Henry.

“The sun’s going down,” Tony said, trying not to think about the other. “You guys can probably go out and do . . . whatever it is you do out there,” he added. “Once Rose is done making love to her sandwich.”

Rose snorted. “I’m starving!” she said around a mouthful of sandwich.

“And the sandwich doesn’t make you rub its belly,” Tony said, and then blushed. He turned away from Rose’s and Peter’s grins. “I’m gonna go check the weapons before Henry wakes up. And take another look at the map.”

It was a good excuse for escaping, Tony thought. Even if he hadn’t wanted to get away from their laughter at his expense, he would still need to check the weapons and look at the map. Tony made sure he had all three sandwich wraps and the bag; he didn’t want to leave behind any evidence that anyone had been there.

Tony went over their weapons cache and chose some additional weapons to place inside the console. If the SUV was searched, the Visitors would find the weapons, but if they got close enough to search it the jig was already up and they’d have to use them. Once he was satisfied with the weapons distribution, Tony got out the map again, and a small flashlight. It was already getting difficult to see inside the barn.

Tony sat on the sleeping bag and leaned back against the feed bin as he opened the map. He forced himself not to look up as Peter and Rose climbed down from the hayloft because he was pretty certain that Peter hadn’t been wearing shorts. Peter opened the doors just far enough for them to sneak out, and then between one moment and the next he and Rose shifted form and streaked out the door.

Heh, streaked! Tony shook away the thought and applied his attention to the map.

~*~*~*~

“Where have you guys been?” Julie said when they finally got back to the Club.

“Interrupting a transport,” Mike said with a self-satisfied grin that didn’t hide the way he favored his left side, though Ham hadn’t let on that he knew. “We left you a note,” Mike added as he carefully lowered himself into a chair.

Julie held up the note, which had gotten crumpled in her hand as she’d paced the floor waiting for them to return. “Not really all that reassuring,” she said. “What took you so long?”

Julie propped her hands on her hips and glared at them like Ham’s mother used to do when she’d discovered that he’d stolen one of his father’s beers out of the refrigerator or snuck off to have a smoke.

“Took a bit of a detour,” Ham drawled with a pointed glance at Mike as he rested his hip against the table.

Ignoring Ham, Mike said, “We had to change our plan a little bit, but we rescued the prisoners and dropped them off at the safe house. We left Sally and Thomas up there with them.”

Sally’s presence would help keep everyone calm, and she’d also be able to gently ease information out of them that might be helpful to the resistence – when, where and how they were captured and detained, the number of guards usually on duty, etc. Thomas would be there to help his mother, and it had the bonus of keeping him out of sight should ‘Adam Dalling’ attempt to contact him again. (Though Bernie Rhodes had promised to call them if Dalling showed up at the school.)

Which reminded Ham. “What happened with you? Did you find Elsie Dalling?”

Julie looked like she wanted to continue to grill them about the mission, but she relented and answered Ham’s question. “Yes, I found her. Well, _not_ her, actually.”

“Lizard,” Ham snarled. Just as they’d suspected, Elsie Dalling had been replaced by one of the Visitors.

“Where is she now?” Mike said.

Julie hesitated and Ham knew it was going to be bad news. “Nathan has her.”

“God damn it!” Ham swore. “We can’t let him interrogate her.”

They didn’t know if this lizard had the same information that the one masquerading as Adam Dalling had, but they couldn’t take the chance that Nathan Bates would find out about the courier from Vancouver and use it as leverage with Diana. Or against the resistance.

“What happened?” Mike said.

“I was trying to get her out of there without raising the suspicion of her co-workers. I told her that I was creating a team to work on the red dust; I figured that would get her attention if she was working for the Visitors, or was one of them. I managed to get her out of the lab, but when I tried to inject her with a drug that would’ve knocked out a horse, she fought back.”

Julie absently touched her cheek, where a bruise was forming.

“Are you alright?” Mike said, worried.

“I’m fine!” Julie said, sounding more frustrated than hurt. “It was just bad luck that one of the security guards was doing rounds right then. He heard the altercation and burst in. I’d ripped away some of the mask she wore, and when he saw the reptilian scales, the guard reflexively fired his gun.”

“Did he kill her?” Ham asked. If Nathan Bates only had a corpse to hold over Diana’s head, they were safe, though Ham would’ve liked to get his hands on the lizard himself to find out what she knew.

“No,” Julie said. “At least, she wasn’t dead when I left.” Julie dropped into a chair across from Mike. She spread the note they’d left her out on the table and tried to smooth the creases out of it. “They moved her to the infirmary, cuffed, even though she wasn’t going anywhere. By then the drug had kicked in.”

“How much did you give her?” Ham asked.

“Enough to knock her out for several hours. I didn’t know how long it would be before we could get her out.”

“What happened with Nathan?” Mike asked.

“He grilled me,” Julie admitted. “I had to admit to ‘overhearing’ that a Visitor spy might have infiltrated the company. I’m not sure he believed me, but right now he’s more concerned about Diana trying . . . .”

“And succeeding,” Mike interjected.

“. . . to get a spy into Science Frontiers.”

Julie had practically admitted to being aware of, if not an active participant in, the resistance. There wasn’t anything else she could do, since Elsie Dalling’s co-workers had seen her approach Dalling, and the security cameras would show that she’d sought the woman out. Still, that could be a problem later on if Nathan wanted to push it. He was between a rock and a hard place with the Visitors, even if he had placed himself there.

“This really is a problem,” Mike said. “There’s no telling what information she may have passed on to Diana.”

“But that’s not our immediate problem,” Ham said.

“He’s right,” Mike said. “We can’t let Nathan question her. If he finds out about the courier from Vancouver he might very well use that information to gain some advantage with Diana. The last thing we need is Diana finding out, or Nathan trying to capture them himself.”

“We need to get her out of there,” Ham said.

“How do we do that?” Mike demanded.

“I can get back in without raising suspicion,” Julie said. “If I can get into the computer I can lock down security and unlock the front door.”

“You’ll blow your cover,” Mike said. “There’s no way Nathan won’t know you helped us.”

“I can’t worry about that now,” Julie said. “This is too important.”

“We’ll need a distraction,” Mike said.

“I know just the thing,” Ham said. He pushed off the table and strode over to the door. He pulled the door open and stuck his head out into the hallway and called, “Kyle Bates! Get in here!”

Moments later Kyle appeared, Elizabeth at his back. “What’s up?”

“We’re going to break into Science Frontiers,” Mike told him.

“And we need a distraction,” Ham added, with a grin that Mike said made him look like a shark.

“Let me guess,” Kyle said dryly. “I’m the distraction.”

“You got it in one, Ace,” Ham said.

They all sat around the table and came up with the bare bones of a plan: Julie would go in under the guise of wanting to know if they’d found out what the lizard was doing there. Kyle would show up as a distraction, allowing Julie to sideline security and let in Ham and Mike. Kyle had the difficult job of keeping Nathan busy while they found the lizard and got back out again. Kyle drummed his fingers on the table.

“Spit it out, kid,” Ham said.

Kyle looked worried, but said, “I know what will keep my father distracted.”

“What’s that?” Mike said.

“If I offer him something he really wants. Even more than he might want a reconciliation with me. Or to see me crawl back to him and admit I was wrong.”

“What’s that?” Ham said, a bad feeling in his gut.

Kyle glanced at Elizabeth. “The Starchild.”

“Absolutely not!” Julie said.

“I want to help!” Elizabeth said.

“It’s too dangerous,” Mike said, shaking his head.

Everyone looked at Ham, who had yet to weigh in. “How would you get her out of there?” he asked Kyle.

“Ham!” Julie said, sounding aghast and betrayed.

“Tyler,” Mike said, his tone a warning growl.

“We’ll only consider it if we can guarantee getting her out of there safely,” Ham said, addressing Mike and Julie’s concerns, but looking at Kyle as he spoke.

Kyle looked at Elizabeth, and then back at Ham. “Agreed.” He lowered his head in thought. “Okay. Well, Julie will have security locked down, so we should just be able to walk out. If not, we can shoot our way out, if we have to. We can sneak in weapons. They’ll search me, but not Elizabeth. If worse comes to worst we can take dear old dad hostage to get out.”

“What the hell would we do with Nathan Bates?” Mike said, sounding almost horrified.

“I don’t like it,” Julie said.

Neither did Ham, actually. There were too many variables, and as today had shown them, plans rarely went off without a hitch. It would be difficult enough getting out of there with the lizard, not to have to worry about getting Elizabeth out safely as well. Even if she wasn’t dearly loved by everyone, they could never allow Nathan Bates or Diana to get their hands on the Starchild.

“Change of plans,” Ham said. “You go in alone,” he told Kyle.

“But . . . !”

“Mike and Julie are right,” Ham told Elizabeth. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t risk Nathan Bates getting hold of you. But that doesn’t mean we can’t tease him with the possibility. You.” Ham pointed at Kyle. “Tell your father you’re having second thoughts about the resistance. Tell him whatever he needs to hear to keep him there. He doesn’t have to be one hundred percent convinced, but he does have to be intrigued enough to keep listening. If it seems like he needs more, up the ante. Offer him Elizabeth.”

“Better yet if it’s his idea,” Mike said. “You can seem reluctant at first. Promise him anything you have to.”

“Elizabeth stays here,” Julie said.

Mike and Henry’s, “Agreed,” outweighed Elizabeth’s protest.

Ham took Elizabeth aside when Mike, Julie and Kyle headed to the armory to arm themselves.

“I know you want to help, but you are too important to risk, especially with only one self-defense lesson under your belt.”

Elizabeth didn’t bother arguing that she had other ways of defending herself – she didn’t know exactly how her powers worked or how to control them yet. “How many lessons do I need?” she asked instead.

“At least a half dozen,” Ham said. “When you can take Mike, Kyle and me, then we’ll consider you graduated. But you’ll also need to be able to handle a weapon.”

“I don’t like guns.” Elizabeth looked more wary about that than having to go hand to hand with three men.

“You don’t have to like them,” Ham said, “but you do need to know how to use them.”

Elizabeth followed Ham to the armory and watched everyone but Kyle strap on weapons. Ham filled his holster with handguns and extra magazines. He slung a laser rifle over his shoulder and took the crossbow Mike handed him. He didn’t want to kill humans, but Nathan Bates’ security guards wouldn’t have the same compunction.

Julie hugged Elizabeth as they trooped out, and Kyle touched her shoulder. Ham charged Elias and Willie with keeping her safe. It wouldn’t have surprised him at all if she tried to sneak out and follow them.

In the end, all their planning, arguing and worrying was for naught. The lizard was dead before they got there.

“You’re here early,” Nathan said when Julie found him in his office, his voice muffled, though audible, over the open channel of the radio Julie had hidden in her purse.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Julie replied. “I kept wondering what you’d found out from the . . . spy.”

“Who wants to know, Julie, you or the resistance?”

“I do, Nathan! Who knows what she got her hands on! If she passed on the formula for the antidote to the red dust, no place on Earth will be safe from the Visitors!”

“We’re checking the computer now, to see what she might have accessed,” Nathan admitted.

“She’s not talking?” Julie said.

“She’s dead,” Nathan said. “Killed herself before we could question her. We’re still trying to determine how she managed it.”

“Damn it!” Julie swore.

Ham was equally frustrated. Their immediate problem was solved – they no longer had to worry about Nathan learning about the courier – but now they’d never know, barring some computer miracle, what information she might have shared with Diana. Ham, Mike and Kyle waited in the van until Julie pulled out of the parking lot, sent home by Nathan to get some sleep. She emerged from the building only after a detour to see for herself that the lizard was in fact dead, and it wasn’t a ruse on Nathan’s part. They held back after she pulled out of the parking lot to make sure she wasn’t being followed by one of Nathan’s men.

“Did you hear all that?” Julie said over the radio after she’d put a couple blocks between her and Science Frontier.

“Yeah,” Mike replied over the radio as Ham guided the van, staying several cars back just in case they’d missed the tail. “Good news, bad news,” he added, succinctly putting voice to Ham’s own thoughts.

“This is a real problem, Mike,” Julie said.

“I know,” Mike said, “but none of us are in any shape to think about it now. Let’s get some sleep and talk about it later today.”

“Okay,” Julie said, resigned and frustrated.

They followed Julie to her apartment building, pulled to the curb further up, and watched. There was nothing.

“You’re clear,” Mike told Julie. “Get some rest.”

“I’ll try,” Julie said.

They dropped Kyle off at the Club to let Elizabeth, Elias and Willie know what had – or rather, hadn’t – happened and switched vehicles, hiding the van in the garage and taking Mike’s Trans Am because it was closer. Ham preferred his Impala to Mike’s flashy Pontiac because it drew less attention, but he was too tired to argue. Besides, it was late enough in the morning for the curfew to be lifted, and for the moment they’d blend in with the commuters.

Mike drove them to his house where they could get a hot shower and sleep on a comfortable mattress that still had an unbroken frame beneath it. Ham ignored his brain’s jab that he must be getting old as he slid onto the bed behind Mike and told his dick that he’d take care of it later just before sliding into sleep.

~*~*~*~

Henry woke with the sun. Panic set in when he opened his eyes to near complete darkness and shifting brought his shoulders into contact with the sides of the wooden box holding him prisoner. Just before he punched his fist up in an attempt to break free of the wood and dig his way free of the dirt covering him, Henry’s brain recognized the scent of musty hay, moldy grain, and mouse droppings. He recalled the barn they’d taken refuge in that morning and it freed him from the memory of the coffin he’d been buried in all those centuries ago.

There was a change in pressure and light as the lid was opened. Henry relaxed under Tony’s familiar scent and the sound of his voice as he spoke to the weres. Tony didn’t remove the tarp, instead settling with his back against the feed bin, making the wood creak loudly in Henry’s ear. He didn’t know whether to be annoyed or appreciative of Tony allowing him to emerge from his enforced slumber at his own pace.

Henry hated that anyone knew of his weakness, the vulnerability he felt at the moment the sun took him, and again when the sun released him from its hold. In the end it was his refusal to wallow in it that got his limbs moving, rather than the unpleasant scents filling his nostrils. (When you’ve slept in a closet permeated with the scent of wet wolf, you could bear almost anything.)

“There’s been some traffic on the road, but no one’s come near the barn,” Tony said as Henry pushed back the tarp.

Tony didn’t raise his head when Henry sat up, stood, and stepped out of the bin, his concentration on the map he was studying with the aid of a small flashlight. Henry turned his eyes away from the beam of light.

“Where are Storm and Cloud?” Henry asked, though he could hear their playful yips coming from outside the barn.

“They needed to work off some energy,” Tony said, distracted by the map.

Just then they appeared, racing towards Henry covered in the leaves and twigs they’d picked up from rolling in the grass.

“Don’t even think about it,” Henry said, eyeing their paws for traces of mud. Or worse.

The wolves skidded to a halt before him, tongues lolling in amusement. Henry relented and petted them both, rubbing their ears and stroking their necks. Cloud pushed happily into his hand. Storm flopped onto his back and tried to convince Henry with the intensity of his stare to extend the rub to his belly. Henry didn’t have to look over to know that Tony was smiling.

“You’re spoiled,” Henry informed Storm, but he bent down and rubbed his belly anyway.

Tony folded up the map and turned off the flashlight. “It’s going to be difficult getting into LA.”

“But not impossible,” Henry said with more certainty than he felt.

The closer they got to Los Angeles, the more check points and patrols they’d encounter, and getting into the city itself would be nearly impossible. Though the drive south so far had been tense, and they’d had to skirt one checkpoint and avoid a patrol, it had been a cakewalk compared to getting inside the borders of LA. Not only would the Visitors be guarding against allowing anyone to pass into the city, they’d also have to elude the police force patrolling the interior during a time when the recently enacted curfew was in force. The streets would be empty of anyone besides the police and they’d stand out like sore thumbs.

Henry slipped his fingers beneath the collar Storm wore to make sure the message he’d placed inside the hidden tube was still there. Satisfied, he gave Storm one last pat on the head and stood. “Let’s get going.”

Tony took the first leg behind the wheel. They needed to stop off at the first town they came to so they could fill the tank, and at this hour there would still be some traffic on the roads for them to blend in with. Henry opened the map and studied it, committing to memory the red X’s that marked Visitor checkpoints, the red outline that marked the Los Angeles city limits, and the smaller red x’s that noted each of the police guard posts. They had one on every access road into LA. They’d need to get around them, because going through them would be too dangerous.

They filled up at the first gas station they saw and then continued their journey south. They made it past the first two checkpoints marked on the map without incident, and then ran into a patrol where they didn’t expect to meet one. There was no chance for them to elude this patrol as they’d done the other, because this group of Visitors had access to at least one shuttle. It had approached too quickly for Henry to find cover, and had them lit up with the spotlight mounted on the hull. A disembodied voice over a loudspeaker warned them that they’d be shot if they didn’t stop.

There was no way they could outrun the shuttle, and right then Henry wished for a rocket launcher even if it would have revealed their presence to any Visitor within hearing range of the resultant explosion. Henry pulled over onto the shoulder and stopped the SUV. They waited silently as the shuttle landed in front of them, blocking most of the road. With furtive movements, Tony shoved his arm behind himself and slipped his gun into his waistband. He opened the consol and withdrew the smoke bomb cannister he’d concealed there. Tony tried to hand it off to Henry, but Henry wrapped his fingers around Tony’s hand and the cannister.

“We’ll distract them,” Henry said, indicating the growling wolves. “You get close enough to release it.”

Henry squeezed Tony’s hand, then opened the door and stepped out of the Blazer before the pair of uniformed Visitors that had exited the shuttle could reach them. They slowed cautiously, weapons held at the ready, but Henry raised his hands and tried his best to look harmless. He bit his lip so he didn’t smirk at their expressions when Cloud and Storm leapt out of the SUV behind him.

“Are those your animals?” one of the Visitors asked nervously.

“Yes, sir,” Henry said, trying to keep his tone respectful. “They just needed to stretch their legs. So, what’s the problem, sir?”

“You from around here?”

“No,” Henry said. “We’re visiting friends.”

“Where?”

Henry named a town that was still several miles in front of them. One of the Visitors noticed Tony getting out of the Blazer, but they were distracted by Cloud, who showed her disdain by completely ignoring them as she trotted past them and paused to sniff at the shuttle. Two more Visitors stepped out of the shuttle to act as back up, though neither Henry nor Tony had done anything threatening. Yet. Tony held his arms out to his side, his one hand turned to hide the cannister from view.

Henry took a step forward and every eye turned to him once more. Storm lifted his leg and pissed on one of the Visitor’s boots. In the ensuing chaos Tony released the trigger and rolled the cannister towards the assembled Visitors. Laser pistols were reflexively turned in Tony’s direction, but Henry easily disabled the two Visitors closest to him while Storm and Cloud harried the other two.

The remainding Visitors inside the shuttle rushed to the aid of their squad, already stumbling and choking on the red dust Tony had released as they cleared the door. Within moments all eight Visitors lay still on the ground. Storm and Cloud retreated to behind the SUV, sneezing and shaking dust out of their coats while Henry and Tony double-checked to make sure that the Visitors were all dead.

“Take their weapons?” Tony asked.

“No, leave them,” Henry said. “When they’re found there will be no sign that anyone else was ever here. And once they realize that the red dust killed them, it should make them think twice about whether they’re safe even in warm temperatures.”

Tony retrieved the cannister. “Then we don’t want to leave this behind.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Henry said, brushing the red dust off his duster and running his fingers through his hair to dislodge it. He’d make fun of the wolves’ reactions if he didn’t know how much it was going to itch later.

Henry had to pull off the road to get around the shuttle and bodies blocking it. Tony stared wistfully at the shuttle as they passed it.

“Too bad we don’t know how to fly that thing.”

Storm huffed his agreement.

“Yeah, too bad,” Henry said distractedly, hoping that the Visitors hadn’t called in a description of their vehicle, or worse, for reinforcements before they’d been incapacitated.

~*~*~*~

“You awake?” Mike asked as he slid his hand low on Ham’s belly.

“No,” Ham grumbled, but his body’s reaction to Mike’s breath on his ear, and the way he pushed into Mike’s touch belied the denial.

“Hmm, that’s too bad,” Mike said, pretending to pull away, not surprised in the slightest at the speed with which a barely awake Hamilton Tyler could move when he was truly motivated.

They were both a lot more awake by the time Ham had finished with him. The cup of coffee Mike brought back from the pot he’d started before waking Ham didn’t hurt.

“Today’s gonna be busy,” Mike said.

“Yeah,” Ham agreed, frowning as Mike slipped the coffee cup from his fingers and took a sip before returning it. “You couldn’t have poured your own?”

“Sharing builds character,” Mike said, grinning.

Ham snorted and tightened his grip on the mug, moving it out of Mike’s reach. Mike stared up at the ceiling, absently noting the cobweb in the corner. Before the Visitors’ arrival, he’d spent a lot of time out of town on assignment, but at least then he’d had a cleaning lady who came in once a week. With the Visitor invasion he spent even less time home, even though he was still in LA. And when he did drop by the house it wasn’t to clean. A shower, a clean change of clothes, a night spent on a comfortable mattress. Besides, he’d lost his cleaning lady during the first occupation.

Which brought Mike back to today. He was worried about Julie, but there was nothing he could do about that right now. He’d tried calling her apartment, but there was no answer. She could’ve been in the shower, but Mike would bet she’d returned to work, even though her line at Science Frontier went straight to voice mail.

Last night Nathan Bates had been too distracted by the revelation that he had a Visitor spy inside his company to concentrate on Julie’s part in exposing said spy. With the imposter dead, and no chance of interrogating it, Nathan would have time today to question Julie more thoroughly about her source, as well as her connections to the resistance.

The rebels had been a thorn in Nathan’s side since he’d set himself up as the temporary administrator of LA, conveniently forgetting that he’d played a large hand in stopping the Visitors the first time by manufacturing the red dust that had killed them. As much as he liked Julie, Nathan Bates liked power more. That had been made clear when he’d set his ‘associate’ Mr. Chiang on his own son to find out what he knew about the resistance.

On top of that, the courier from Vancouver was expected to arrive sometime after midnight, as long as they hadn’t been delayed or captured. They needed to stake out the meeting place. If this courier was as good as Vancouver said they’d arrive like the mist, but they had to be prepared for a firefight if that wasn’t the case.

There was one other thing bothering Mike. “Do you think we can find out who sent us that tip about the meeting the other night?”

Ham raised his eyebrows. “Now you’re worried about that?” He narrowed those very same brows. “Why, you think it was a set up?”

“By the Visitors? No.” Mike shook his head. “If they knew about the courier I can’t imagine they’d want us aware of the fact.”

“Then what?”

“I’m just . . . curious,” Mike said. “How someone who knew how to get hold of us also knew that this information had fallen into enemy hands.”

“Maybe it was one of your lizard friends,” Ham said, grimacing even as he said it.

Ham was right – it could’ve been a member of the Visitor resistence, the Fifth Column, but if so, then, “Why didn’t they just say so?”

“Maybe they couldn’t.”

“Are you defending a lizard?”

“A hypothetical lizard,” Ham corrected.

Mike snorted. As far as Ham was concerned, the only good lizard was a dead lizard, even if they had proven themselves to be their allies. Like Martin. Another dead friend he could lay directly at Diana’s feet. The only Visitor Ham tolerated was Willie. And he seemed to have developed a soft spot for Elizabeth, though Mike rarely thought of her that way despite her half-Visitor parentage.

“We should probably get going,” Mike said, even though he didn’t really want to leave the warm comfort of their bed.

Ham grunted in what Mike took to be agreement and drained the coffee cup. He pushed the covers back and threw his legs over the side of the mattress. Mike took a second to enjoy the view as Ham rose to his feet and padded over to the dresser for a change of clothes, and then threw back his own covers.

By the time Mike was dressed, Ham was in the kitchen pouring a second cup of coffee. He took a sip and then offered the mug to Mike. Mike leaned against the counter, hands wrapped around the warm mug, and watched as Ham sat at the table, shoved his feet into his boots, and began to tie them.

“Have you heard from Julie?” Ham said without looking up.

“Am I that transparent?” Mike said, hiding a self-deprecating grimace behind the mug.

“Not to everyone,” Ham said gruffly. He stood and walked over to Mike, took the mug from his hands and drank from it.

Ham didn’t move away and Mike took comfort from the nearness of him. “I tried calling her at home, but she didn’t answer.”

Ham nodded. “Did you try work?”

“No answer there, either. I didn’t leave a message in case they’re monitoring her calls.”

“Why don’t we stop by her apartment on the way to the Club. Just to see.”

Mike felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest at the suggestion. He wasn’t sure if it was because they were going to check on Julie, or because Ham had cared enough (about Mike, if not Julie) to make the offer.

“Thank you.”

Ham shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“It’ll make me feel better.”

For a second Mike thought Ham was going to kiss him, but then he started to turn away. Mike stopped him just long enough to press a hard kiss to his lips.

Ham cleared his throat when Mike drew back. “Better get your boots on, then.”

Covering his smile, Mike went to do just that.

~*~

Mike drove them to Julie’s building. When their knocks didn’t get a response he let them into her apartment with a key she’d given him for emergencies. To his credit Ham didn’t make a comment about Mike having a key to Julie’s apartment. A cursory look confirmed that Julie wasn’t there and revealed no signs of a struggle. Julie’s purse was missing, and they hadn’t seen her car, so she’d most likely left of her own accord.

Mike tried Julie’s work number from her home phone; still no answer. He couldn’t shake the image of Nathan Bates interrogating her. There was nothing he could do now, not without knowing that Julie was in danger, bar breaking into Science Frontiers and putting the entire resistance at risk. Julie would have his head if he did that.

The only way he’d be able to stop thinking about it was to think about something else. They made one more stop on the way to the Club, to a drop spot he used to contact their Visitor allies so he could leave a message for Phillip. He wanted to know who was behind the tip, and the Fifth Column was the best place to start. Even if it had been Ham’s idea.

The first thing Mike heard when they entered the hidden rooms beneath Club Creole was Julie’s laughter. His relief wasn’t complete until he saw her with his own eyes, and was able to lift her off her feet in a hug that drew a squeal from her.

“Donovan, put me down!”

“We were worried about you!” Mike said when he set her back onto her feet.

“Donovan was worried about you,” Ham corrected.

Julie just rolled her eyes at him.

”We called your apartment, we called your office! We even stopped by your apartment on the way here!”

“Did you try calling the Club?” Julie asked reasonably.

Mike’s tirade cut off. He couldn’t think of anything to say to that besides, “No.”

Julie smiled and took pity on him. “I called in sick. I decided not to chance facing Nathan’s ire, not when we might be very close to ending this war once and for all. I want to see what the courier from Vancouver brings us, then I’ll make a decision what to do about Nathan and Science Frontier.”

Mike nodded. “Good.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Julie said, humoring him. “I’m going up to the safe house for a couple of hours,” she went on. “I thought I’d see how Sally’s doing, talk to some of the people you rescued.”

“Not alone,” Ham and Mike both said.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Julie said. “But as it happens, Elias has a supply shipment going up.”

“Who do you have guarding it?” Ham said, all business.

“Shane and Karen,” Elias said.

Ham nodded his approval. Shane had gone with them on several missions and had proven himself to be reliable and able to think outside the box. Karen was LAPD. She’d joined the resistence after Nathan had taken over Los Angeles and was their man inside the force. Ham had once admitted that she knew almost as much about weapons as he did, which was high praise.

“Be careful,” Mike said.

“Can I go, too?” Elizabeth asked as soon as a moment presented itself.

“Oh, I don’t know, Elizabeth,” Julie said.

Mike didn’t think it was a good idea, either. As irrational as it might be, he felt more comfortable if either he or Ham was with her when she went out. Before he could open his mouth to deny her request, though, Ham spoke up.

“You’ve got other plans for the next couple hours.”

“No I don’t!” Elizabeth said, and then her eyes widened. “Oh, are you going to give me another lesson?”

“Another lesson in what?” Julie said.

“He’s teaching me how to take care of myself!” Elizabeth told her, practically bouncing in place.

Ham crossed his arms over his chest, closing himself off from what he probably knew was coming. Mike had to turn his head away to hide his smile.

“You’re teaching her self-defense? Ham, that’s so sweet,” Julie said.

“It’s not sweet,” Ham growled.

“It’s practical,” Elizabeth finished, then glanced at Ham. “Right?”

Mike saw the war with himself in the tightness of Ham’s jaw. Finally he relented. “Right. Now go change.”

Elizabeth squealed and clutched at Ham’s arm, and then ran out of the room. Mike bit his lip. Julie showed no such compunction.

“Makes me wish I was staying,” Julie said with a smile.

“Makes _me_ wish I had a camera,” Kyle said.

“Bite me, Ace,” Ham said, ignoring Julie’s comment rather than offering her a scathing reply.

“Well, we should probably be going,” Julie said, a smile still playing around her lips.

“Drive carefully,” Mike told Elias. “Call us if you need anything,” he added, including Julie in the admonition.

“We will,” Julie promised.

“Bye,” Willie said, sounding wistful that he couldn’t go with them in case his presence upset any of the people they’d rescued. “I’ll hold up the fort.”

“Down,” Julie corrected as she gave Willie a hug. “And thank you, Willie.”

Willie nodded, his expression showing how much he appreciated Julie’s confidence in him. And maybe the hug.

Mike waited until they left, then turned to Ham. “Don’t let her hurt you too badly,” he said, unable to hide his smile any longer. “We’ve got a mission tonight.”

“Actually,” Ham said, “I had someone else in mind for today’s lesson.”

“Me?” Mike said when Ham stared at him.

“If your ribs are up to it.”

It was the first time Ham had let on that he knew Mike had been injured in yesterday’s fight beyond the healing cut on his cheek and the bruises. “My ribs are fine,” Mike said. “They were up to you this morning, weren’t they?”

“Oh god,” Kyle groaned. “That was more than I needed to know.”

“Says the guy that makes goo goo eyes at Elizabeth every time he sees her,” Ham retorted.

“What? Goo goo . . . ? No I don’t,” Kyle denied.

Just then Elizabeth appeared in the doorway, once again dressed in Kyle’s t-shirt and sweat pants. “I’m ready!” she announced.

Mike snorted when Kyle’s eyes went to Elizabeth and his mouth dropped open.

“What did I say?” Ham said as he ushered Elizabeth out of the room.

“You’re staring,” Mike said, following Ham and Elizabeth. “And drooling.”

Kyle snapped his mouth shut. When Mike looked back he was wiping his hand across his lips, just in case. Mike grinned. That had so been worth the havoc this was going to play with his already aching ribs.

~*~*~*~

It was only due to Henry’s enhanced eyesight that they found the turnoff before he drove past it. The path was obscured by overhanging trees and undergrowth encroaching upon it. Limbs and tall grass brushed the sides and undercarriage of the Blazer as Henry pulled onto the little used trail. He drove in far enough to hide the vehicle from anyone passing by on the road and turned off the engine. Tony folded up the map and shoved it into an inside pocket of his jacket. They’d be leaving the SUV behind for the next leg of their journey soon, but they’d still require the map.

“I want to scout ahead before we go any further,” Henry said.

Tony rolled his eyes (though he lowered his head so that Henry wouldn’t see the gesture). That meant he was going to get left behind. Again. Sometimes he really hated being the only normal one of their group.

“I’ll take Storm with me; Cloud, you stay with Tony.”

Tony was so used to hearing that last bit, he silently mimicked Henry, quickly pressing his lips together when Henry glanced over at him. What Tony wasn’t used to was Cloud’s dissenting bark. Even Tony heard the, “ _You_ stay here with Tony,” in her tone.

The weres were just as capable of scouting ahead, and staying hidden in the brush and shadows, as Henry was, with the added benefit of drawing less attention in their wolf form if they were spotted.

“Fine,” Henry agreed more quickly than Tony thought he would, being that he was a bit of a control freak. “Cloud and Storm will scout the area and _I’ll_ stay here with Tony.”

Henry stepped out of the SUV, and Tony opened his door to follow suit. Cloud and Storm bumped into each other as they both tried to fit through the small space between the front seats at the same time. Cloud snarled at Storm and he pulled back just enough to allow her to go first, but followed so closely on her haunches that they could be mistaken for one very long wolf. They leapt out the driver’s side door as Tony closed his door and walked around the front of the Blazer to meet them. Tony had to bite his lip to keep from laughing when he saw Henry, Cloud, and Storm standing with their noses raised as all three of them scented the air.

Finally Henry lowered his head and said, “Be careful, and watch out for traps.”

Cloud huffed as if she thought Henry was stating the obvious, but then she pushed her head into Henry’s hand and licked his fingers before loping off with Storm at her heels. A few meters down the trail they broke apart, each disappearing into the brush on either side of the path. Tony wouldn’t have believed they’d even been there if Henry wasn’t still wiping his hand clean on the leg of his jeans.

“I’m going to go back and check the road,” Henry said. “I’ll just be a minute.”

“Be careful,” Tony said. It didn’t matter that Henry was a vampire, Tony still worried.

“I will,” Henry said, smiling as if partly amused and partly touched that anyone would be concerned for him. “You, too.” Henry leaned in and brushed his lips across Tony’s, and then he was gone.

Tony shook his head as he was left alone, if only for a few seconds. He raised the rear door of the Blazer and opened the hidden compartment that held their weapons and ammunition. They wouldn’t be able to take all of the weapons with them when they left the SUV behind, so they’d need to decide which ones to pack up, and which to leave. Tony had just laid out the empty duffel bag when he felt a shift in the air around him, and then sensed Henry at his back.

“Tony,” Henry drawled.

Tony was hard before the last sound of his name left Henry’s tongue. “Henry,” he said, having difficulty getting those two simple syllables out. “Are you hungry?”

“Mmm,” Henry said as he slipped his hands beneath Tony’s jacket. “Are you?”

Tony shivered. “I’m not sure we have time for this. Storm and Cloud . . . .”

“Will be a while yet,” Henry said.

“What if they run into trouble?” Tony said, the last word coming out as a moan when Henry slid his hand lower.

“I guess we’ll just have to hurry then,” Henry said.

Tony was in no position to disagree, even if he’d wanted to.

~*~

Tony blushed when the weres came trotting back.

“Find anything?” Henry said calmly, as if he and Tony hadn’t spent a good portion of the time they’d been gone fooling around.

Cloud changed form so Rose could answer. “Nothing. No one’s been there for a couple of days, at least. Probably to check on the bikes they’d stashed.”

While Rose was speaking with Henry, Storm came over to Tony, who had just locked the remainder of the weapons into the hidden compartment. He stuck his nose in Tony’s crotch, which earned him a surprised yelp and a swat that missed, and then sat on his haunches and grinned knowingly at Tony.

“Oh please,” Tony said, the flush on his cheeks burning hotly. “Like you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

Storm barked what Tony took to be agreement. Tony zipped up the bag he’d loaded with weapons and closed the back of the Blazer. He and Storm joined Henry and Rose, and Tony tried to keep his eyes on Rose’s face as she spoke.

“We also went a little further up the trail, to make sure no one was waiting for us, or had left any nasty surprises. No sign of anyone.”

“Okay, good,” Henry said. “Let’s keep moving then.”

They all climbed back into the SUV and Rose pulled the sundress on over her head. Storm unhappily jerked his head back inside the window when he got slapped by a tree branch.

“That stung,” Peter said, rubbing his nose.

When Tony glanced back, Peter was in the process of pulling on a pair of jeans. Rose had already put on a pair of leggings under the dress and a jean jacket over it to cover her arms. For this short leg of their journey the weres would be forced to trade comfort for protection.

Henry drove until they reached a small clearing. The branches twined together overhead, though, so they were still hidden from anyone flying over. Henry parked the Blazer under one of the trees to keep it well hidden. They all trooped out of the SUV and over to the tarp covered mound beneath another tree. Henry threw back the tarp to reveal two dirt bikes. It was one of several such stashes hidden in the hills outside Los Angeles for just this purpose: sneaking into the city. Tony stepped forward (after pushing the bag of weapons into Henry’s hands) and checked the fuel and oil levels.

“Full,” Tony said when he was satisfied.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Henry said.

Tony pulled the strap of the duffel bag over his head and settled it on his back. He tugged on the strap to make sure it was secure. Along with the weapons, the bag also held the tarp for Henry in case they didn’t make it to LA before sunrise, and the package from Vancouver. They couldn’t afford to lose any of it.

Tony climbed onto the bike behind Henry, while Rose rode with Peter. The first hour was uneventful, if not boring. Tony’s ass was sore and he kept expecting to see Visitors around every corner. That chance was made greater by the fact that the terrain required them to use the headlights. They were in the open when Peter suddenly shouted something to Henry. Tony couldn’t make out the words, but a moment later laser fire had him ducking reflexively even though it hadn’t come near him. Somehow a Visitors patrol had found them, and these Visitors were on bikes, as well. Tony just hoped their bikes were faster.

The next fifteen minutes were a blur as they were chased through the hills. Henry took them places Tony hadn’t thought the bikes would fit in order to lose their pursuit. It didn’t work, but it did buy them some time. Henry found them a spot where they were hidden, if only for a few minutes, and stopped.

“We need to split up,” Henry said.

Rose was discarding her clothing even as she slipped off the bike. Soon she and Peter were both naked, stuffing their clothes in the bag Rose had carried so as to not leave behind any evidence that they were anything other than four-legged creatures.

“We’ll lead them away,” Henry said. “You two get to the rendezvous point.”

Storm and Cloud both barked their understanding. Tony bent down and pet them both.

“Be careful.”

Henry put Rose’s pack on his back and Tony climbed onto the bike Peter and Rose had ridden.

“Wait here until they spot us,” Henry said in parting, then revved his engine and led Tony and the Visitors away from Storm and Cloud.

~*~*~*~

Mike waited until Kyle had led Elizabeth from the gym to give in to the groan Ham saw building. “It’s like she can see the move coming before we even make it,” he complained.

Ham smirked. “Maybe she can,” he said, thinking of some of the other powers Elizabeth had exhibited. “How’re your ribs?”

“My ribs are fine,” Mike said. “I’m more concerned about the number of times I ended up on my ass.”

“I don’t think any less of you,” Ham assured him, remembering Mike’s teasing after Ham had given Elizabeth her first lesson, ending up on his ass a few times himself.

“Bite me, Tyler,” Mike grumbled.

Ham grinned. “Again?”

Ham watched Mike struggle to keep from reaching reflexively for the bite mark hidden beneath his shirt. Ham wasn’t the most romantic guy, but he was pretty possessive, and he liked to mark what was his. Mike forced his hand back down to his side and glared at Ham. Which only made his grin widen.

While Mike was distracted Ham stepped up to him and slipped his hands beneath Mike’s shirt. With a firm touch he slid his hands up Mike’s sides, fingers splayed over his ribs.

“Not sure we have time for this,” Mike said, then winced when Ham’s searching fingers hit upon a sensitive spot. “It’s just a bruise,” he said in reply to Ham’s raised eyebrows.

Ham didn’t say anything, merely kept up his exploration, sliding his hands up Mike’s sides, and then back down. When Mike sucked in his breath Ham knew it wasn’t because he’d touched upon another bruise – Mike was the most ticklish person he knew. Ham stroked his thumb over the same spot again just to get a reaction from Mike. The indrawn breath and grated, “Tyler,” were gratifying.

“Just making sure you’re not going to be a liability tonight,” Ham said, reluctantly removing his hands from Mike’s warm skin.

“I’ll show you a liability,” Mike growled. He slapped Ham’s hand away and pulled his shirt back down.

Ham dragged his eyes away from Mike. “Let’s go figure out what we’re doing tonight.”

There wasn’t much to figure out; the spot they’d chosen for the meeting was one they’d used before and they’d already staked out the best places to conduct surveillance from before approaching. And thanks to Karen they had a police scanner, so they’d know if Nathan’s cops were headed their way. It didn’t hurt to go over it again, especially since the meeting was scheduled to take place well after curfew.

The only thing in their favor was that LA was a large city and Nathan didn’t have the manpower to guard the perimeter and maintain a police presence on every street. In addition, they only switched up their patrol schedule every couple of weeks and Karen passed on the new schedule when it came out. They might have to go out of their way to get to the meeting, but they’d miss every LAPD patrol car if they were lucky.

Kyle came back with sandwiches while Mike and Ham were looking at the map, coming up with the best path to take to the rendezvous with the courier. Elizabeth showed up a moment later dressed in jeans and sneakers.

“I’m going with you,” she announced when Ham glanced up at her.

From the surprised look on Kyle’s face he’d been unaware of her decision. Ham pursed his lips as he studied Elizabeth. It would be difficult to reconcile taking her on the transport mission with leaving her behind on this less dangerous mission. (Less dangerous if it went as planned, anyway.) At the very least it would be a good learning experience. They couldn’t keep Elizabeth wrapped up in cotton wool and protected from the big bad world forever.

Ham used his foot to push out the chair next to his. Elizabeth smiled widely, gratefully at him, and took her seat. “You listen to everything we say,” he told her. “And do exactly what we tell you.”

“I will,” Elizabeth assured him. “Thank you.”

~*~

They took two cars to the rendezvous just in case one of them was spotted and had to evade pursuit. Ham took Elizabeth with him (Mike had given him the responsibility of keeping her safe since he’d allowed her to accompany them); Kyle rode with Mike. Ham pulled the Impala into an alley a block from the pet store they used as a front.

Ham and Elizabeth climbed to the roof and Ham used a pair of night vision binoculars to scout the area. There was no movement on the street (most people were smart enough to not want to get caught by Nathan Bates’ police force), and for the moment no sign of patrol cars or any Visitors, though they weren’t supposed to be on the streets after nine o’clock either.

Ham focused on the roof of a building on the next block. There was no movement, which meant Mike and Kyle hadn’t yet arrived. He wasn’t worried – they’d taken the longer route that would bring them in on the other side of the store so they could scout out the area from both directions. Besides, if they’d run into trouble, either Mike or Kyle would have contacted them. Ham double-checked the radio just to make sure it was working and refused to let his mind imagine any scenarios in which Mike or Kyle _wouldn’t_ have been able to contact them.

Ham sat down and rested his back against the wall. He handed the binoculars to Elizabeth. “Keep an eye out,” he said.

Elizabeth took the binoculars gingerly, as if afraid they might bite, and looked at them as if she’d never seen a pair before. Ham showed her how to adjust them for her eyes, and to fit comfortably against her nose. Elizabeth slowly raised them to her face and peered over the edge of the wall.

“What am I looking for?”

“Anything out of the ordinary,” Ham said. “Which, at this time of the night, is _anything_ *. Nobody should be out here right now but us. And the courier. Watch for patrol car’s, as well.”

Elizabeth nodded. She scanned the area once more.

“See that pet store a block down?”

A moment passed while Elizabeth focused in on the store. “I see it!”

“That’s our meeting place. Pay special attention to it; make sure no one approaches.”

The owner of the pet store, Brian Dingman, was forced to supply mice to the lizards, but he was sympathetic to the resistance. In addition to allowing them the use of the store for the occasional secret meeting, he passed on as much information as he could about the Visitors. Dingman wouldn’t be there tonight, but he’d given them a key to the back door.

The bonus of meeting at a pet store was that no lizard would be able to slip into the meeting undiscovered because the animals would go crazy at the presence of the predator and give them away. They’d only used the pet store once before, not wanting to blow the owner’s cover and get him killed or lose a reliable source of information about the Visitors, but this meeting had been important enough for them to take the chance in order to ensure they were safe from Visitors.

Ham rolled to his knees and scanned the area with unassisted eyes. He quickly grabbed the radio when he heard Mike’s voice.

“Snow White and the huntsman, come in,” Mike said.

Ham rolled his eyes, both at the grin he could clearly hear in Mike’s voice and at the code names Mike had chosen for him and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth lowered the binoculars and frowned at the radio. “What’s a snow white?”

“I’ll explain later,” Ham told her. Actually, he’d have Julie, or better yet, Robin, explain the fairy tale to Elizabeth.

Ham raised the radio to his mouth. “This is Snow White. What’s your status, Romeo?”

Mike chuckled over the radio. Elizabeth smiled at Ham, enjoying their banter even though she had no idea what their code names meant.

“We’re in place,” Mike said. “Prince Charming wants to say hi.”

Ham snorted. “Prince Charming, my ass.”

“I saw something!” Elizabeth said.

“What was it?”

“I don’t know, I just caught a quick glance and then it was gone.”

“Hold on, Romeo,” Ham spoke into the radio. “Snow White saw something that I want to check out.” Ham put down the radio and took the binoculars from Elizabeth. He adjusted them and scanned the street. Minutes later he was rewarded by movement that resolved itself into a pretty large dog. The tightness in his shoulders eased.

“It’s just a dog,” Ham said over the radio, letting Elizabeth take the binoculars from him.

“A dog! I want to see.”

“I see it,” Mike’s voice came over the radio.

“Oh, there’s two of them! And one looks hurt,” Elizabeth said.

“Snow White says one looks hurt, so be careful, they could be dangerous,” Ham told Mike.

“We will,” Mike replied. “All clear on our end.”

“All clear,” Ham agreed.

Ham laid down the radio and picked up his crossbow. Mike and Kyle would approach the store first while Ham kept them covered.

“They’re moving in,” Ham told Elizabeth. “Don’t watch them, keep checking the roofs and doorways for movement, make sure no one spots them.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, her voice tight with excitement and nerves.

Ham kept one eye on Mike and Kyle’s progress as they slid from shadow to shadow, and the other scanning the area for any sign of danger. He didn’t relax until he heard Mike’s voice over the radio.

“Home run, huntsman.”

“Roger. Our turn up to bat,” Ham said.

Ham took the binoculars and hung them around his neck. He stuck the radio on his belt and slung the crossbow over his shoulder. “Stick close to me,” he told Elizabeth.

“I will.”

They climbed down to the ground, the only sounds the creaking of the ladder and Elizabeth’s breathing. As soon as his feet touched cracked pavement Ham palmed his gun. He took Elizabeth’s hand in his other and led her through the shadows, crossing the street beneath a blown streetlight and disappearing back into the shadows on the other side. They approached the store from the alley that ran along the rear. The hairs on the back of Ham’s neck stood up and he raised his gun.

“It’s just me,” Kyle said, his voice low as he stepped out of the shadows that had kept him hidden. “Just making sure nothing’s following you.”

“Nothing’s following me,” Ham replied in a low growl, but he lowered his gun and kept moving, keeping Elizabeth close.

The back room of the pet store was lit by a small camping lantern that threw off just enough light to keep them from shooting each other in the dark.

“What do we do now?” Elizabeth said.

“Now we wait,” Mike told her. “Kyle.” Mike handed him one of the radios. “Keep watch. Let us know if anyone approaches.”

“Shouldn’t we watch out the front, too?” Elizabeth said.

“No. That might stir up the animals, attract attention,” Mike said.

Elizabeth nodded.

“I’ll go keep watch, too,” Ham said. “You stay here with Mike,” he told Elizabeth.

Ham opened the door to step out, but stopped when he was confronted by the two dogs Elizabeth had seen earlier blocking the door. They didn’t look vicious, but their appearance out of nowhere was startling. Before Ham could shoo them away, Elizabeth approached them.

“Stay back, Elizabeth,” Mike warned.

“They won’t hurt me,” Elizabeth said. “Will you?”

The dogs pushed past Ham, who was still trying to find his tongue, and approached Elizabeth. She’d gone to her knees and held out her hand. The smaller dog, female, sniffed Elizabeth’s hand and then licked it.

“You’re beautiful,” Elizabeth cooed as she stroked her hand over the dog’s back.

The dog took the compliment, and the petting, as her due, only moving aside when the second dog, a male, nudged her with his nose. It looked to Ham as if the female rolled her eyes when the male took her place beneath Elizabeth’s hand. He didn’t think dogs could roll their eyes. It must’ve been the lighting.

“You’re hurt,” Elizabeth told the dog she was currently petting. She reached towards the wound on the dog’s haunch, and both Mike and Ham went on alert.

“Be careful, Elizabeth,” Mike warned.

“He was shot,” Elizabeth said, her fingers hovering over the wound. “They cleaned it as best they could before hurrying to meet us.”

“How do you know that?” Ham wondered if she’d developed some healing power.

“He told me,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly. “He also told me their names. This is Storm, and that’s Cloud. They’re the courier.”

“ _They’re_ the courier?” Kyle said from behind Ham, startling him again.

“Part of the team,” Elizabeth explained. “They had to split up.”

“Great,” Ham said. “What are we going to do with two dogs and no information?”

“They’re not dogs,” Elizabeth said as she placed her hands on Storm’s neck. “They’re wolves.”

“They’re . . . ,” Mike said, perfectly voicing Ham’s own whirling thoughts.

“You should’ve gone with Little Red Riding Hood,” Kyle told Mike.

Ham would’ve glared at him, but he didn’t want to take his eyes off Elizabeth. She removed the collar from the wolf’s, Storm’s, neck.

“Is this what you wanted?” Elizabeth said as Storm shook himself as if glad to have the collar removed.

Elizabeth examined the collar. Cloud poked at it with her nose and Elizabeth turned it over in her hand. “There’s something on here.”

Mike knelt beside Elizabeth and took the collar from her. Storm lowered himself to the floor, and Ham could’ve sworn he heaved a sigh of relief. Cloud nudged his head with her nose, then licked his muzzle and dropped down beside Storm as if to say their work here was done.

“There _is_ something back here,” Mike said. He got out his pocketknife and worked a rolled up piece of paper out of the tube hidden at the back of the collar. Mike unrolled the message and read it, then handed it to Ham.

The message said ‘method of delivery: food source’ followed by . . . . “It looks like a formula,” Ham said.

“Yeah,” Mike agreed. “We need Julie to look at it.”

~*~*~*~

To make sure the Visitor patrol stayed with them, Henry kept them pointed towards Los Angeles. The weres wouldn’t need to use the trail, so Henry wasn’t worried about blocking their way or exposing them to the Visitors. He was more worried that the Visitors would realize they’d left two of their own behind and go back to check it out. It was unlikely that the Visitors would spot the weres if they did go back, and even less likely that they’d equate two wolves with two missing humans, but Henry preferred not to take the chance.

Once they were far enough away from where they’d left Storm and Cloud, Henry started looking for a place to whittle down the number of Visitors on their tail. His enhanced vision allowed him to see potholes and outcroppings that neither Tony nor the Visitors could see until they were upon them. Soon he spotted a dip that he thought might suit his purposes. Henry let himself fall back so he could try to convey his intent to Tony, though they couldn’t speak very well over the sound of the bikes and the occasional potshot taken by the Visitors that sent dirt and debris flying.

“Keep going,” Henry shouted to Tony, pointing ahead to emphasize his words, knowing that it was dangerous to let Tony maintain these speeds without Henry guiding him down the trail even with the meager light provided by the headlight.

Tony nodded his understanding, though he looked worried. He didn’t voice whatever concern he had, knowing they didn’t have time to discuss it, and even if they did it would be a pretty one-sided conversation since Tony wouldn’t be able to hear Henry.

When they reached the base of the dip Henry had spotted, he steered off the trail and downed his bike, jumping free before the skidding bike trapped him beneath it. Henry planted his feet and drew his gun as he listened to the sounds of the quickly approaching bikes. He only had to wait a few seconds before the first Visitor crested the hill. Henry got off two shots before the Visitors saw him and had a chance to react, and by the time he registered to their senses they’d already shot past him.

The last rider over the hill appeared to lose control of his bike when he spotted Henry, and the bike veered right for him. Henry leapt, meeting the Visitor halfway. The impact knocked the Visitor off the bike and Henry landed beside him and rolled to his feet. He finished off the writhing Visitor with a quick twist of his head. Henry pocketed his gun and checked the bikes, finally finding one that didn’t have a twisted frame and would start. He took off down the trail after Tony and his Visitor pursuers, hoping to trap them between the two of them.

A few minutes later the sound of a crash reached Henry’s ears over the sound of his own engine, and then the loud silence as the other bikes slowed, and then the engines were turned off. Henry rounded a bend and got his first look at the scene in front of him. Tony was down, his bike entangled in the dead fall blocking the path, and surrounded by Visitors with laser pistols drawn and pointed right at him.

Unsurprisingly, Tony looked more worried about Henry than himself as the Visitor’s attention turned to the approaching bike. Tony struggled to his feet, favoring one leg, and screamed Henry’s name. Rage flared at the thought that these reptiles had hurt someone he’d vowed to protect. Had hurt Tony.

Henry aimed the bike right at the group of Visitors that stood between him and Tony. He wanted, _needed_ , to get to Tony, and they were in his way. The Visitors, realizing that he was the bigger threat, turned their full attention on him. They shouted at him to stop, and when he didn’t they raised their weapons in his direction.

Henry grinned, the type of grin that would’ve scared anyone that saw it. Keeping his hands on the handlebars so he could keep the bike pointed directly at the Visitors, Henry jumped so that his feet were on the seat and he balanced himself on the moving bike. When the expected shots came, Henry leapt into the air, flinging himself forward. The laser blasts passed harmlessly through the space where Henry had been crouching just moments before. By the time the Visitors recovered they were forced to scatter out of the path of the riderless bike and Henry was among them.

Just as Henry’s feet slammed into the ground, the weapons were jerked out of the Visitor’s hands as if they’d been attached to a string that ended in Tony’s hand. Henry watched the weapons fly towards Tony, who looked surprised as he dove out of their way. The Visitors looked surprised, too, but in a different way, staring at their empty hands and over their shoulders at the pile of pistols in front of Tony before turning their attention back to Henry.

Henry smiled and easily took out the five remaining Visitors, crushing ribs and breaking necks until nothing stood between him and Tony. By the time he reached him, Tony had regained his feet and taken two wobbly steps forward before falling heavily into Henry’s arms.

“Henry!” Tony sobbed. He punched Henry in the shoulder, then patted him down for injury. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Henry assured Tony, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice as he let Tony satisfy himself of the fact. Finally he gave in to his own worry. “I’m not the one bleeding. What happened?”

Tony jerked a hand behind him, indicating the tree that had fallen and blocked the trail. “By the time I saw it I couldn’t stop.”

Henry cursed at the irony, and at the fact that he’d left Tony alone and unprotected. “I shouldn’t have left you.”

If he’d remained with Tony for just a little while longer he would’ve led him safely off the trail and they could’ve taken advantage of the opportunity nature had give them. The Visitors would have been the ones crashing into the tree instead of Tony.

“It’s not your fault,” Tony said.

The bottom line was that Tony was Henry’s responsibility (had been since Tony had seen him feeding that one night years ago, no matter that Tony thought he could take care of himself), and he’d gotten hurt on Henry’s watch, which made it his fault, but instead of arguing Henry said, “Let me see.”

“I’m okay,” Tony said, but he let Henry examine him.

The jeans had torn where Tony had skidded on the ground, and the skin beneath was scraped and bleeding sluggishly, but the material had thankfully protected him from worse injury. He’d also twisted his ankle, and Henry could already see the bruising breaking out beneath the skin. Tony would have some beauties tomorrow, and he’d feel a lot less ‘okay’.

Physical exam over, Henry turned his attention to the laser pistols littering the ground around Tony. “You want to tell me how you did that?” Henry said, keeping his voice even so as to not spook Tony.

Tony carefully turned on his twisted ankle and looked down at the Visitor’s weapons. “I’d love to tell you how I did that,” he said thoughtfully.

Henry raised an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t know?”

It wasn’t surprising – if Tony’d had any special powers besides using up all the hot water and leaving the toilet seat up, he would have used them before this – and yet it _was_ surprising.

Tony wiped his palms on the seat of his jeans. “No?”

“But you did do it, right?” Henry questioned.

If it hadn’t been Tony there was someone else here in the hills with them, someone Henry could neither hear nor scent. Or see, but the fact that he couldn’t see them was a given, otherwise he’d know they were there. And he needed to stop arguing with himself.

“I guess?” Tony said. “I mean, I think I did, but I don’t know _how_ I did it.” Tony shook his head. “It’s impossible.”

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Henry said, keeping his voice calm in an effort to stem Tony’s rising panic. And his own. They did a dozen impossible things before breakfast every single day, and the fact that they were fighting off an alien invasion was the least of it, and Tony knew that.

“Okay, well.” Tony took a deep breath. “I saw them pointing their guns at you, and I might have freaked out a little bit. I felt so damned *helpless*! Even with their backs turned I couldn’t do anything.” He threw his arms up. “I lost my gun in the slide, they took the bag, and I couldn’t even walk on my ankle, much less rush them. There was no way for me to . . . . I thought they were going to kill you.” Tony had to stop speaking to collect himself. “Henry.”

Henry drew Tony into a hug. It wasn’t a hardship; he needed to assure himself that Tony was okay, as well. “It’s alright, Tony. I’m alright.”

“I just wanted them to not have their guns pointed at you anymore,” Tony said. “So I just sort of . . . reached for them.”

“With your hand?”

“With my mind,” Tony reluctantly admitted.

Henry was very familiar with the strange and unusual, but Tony’s unexpected use of some power he’d previously never had, or been unaware of had thrown him a little bit. “What did you do next?”

“I ducked,” Tony said wryly.

Henry smiled. Tony had done something spectacular, even though neither of them knew how he’d done it. It bore thinking about, but they didn’t have time for that now. “I’m glad you ducked. And thank you. For disarming them.” A laser shot wouldn’t have killed him (probably), but it would have hurt like hell.

“You’re welcome.”

Henry could tell that Tony was confused, worried. “We’ll figure it out.”

Tony gave Henry a grateful look. “Okay.”

“But right now we need to find Storm and Cloud, and make our delivery.”

Tony nodded. He limped over to where the Visitors had dropped the bag when Henry appeared. He knelt awkwardly, unzipped it, and checked to make sure that the package hadn’t been damaged. Henry left him to it while he chose one of the Visitor’s bikes to get them into LA. They only needed the one because Henry wasn’t going to take another chance with Tony’s safety. Besides, he wasn’t sure how well Tony would be able to ride given the minor injuries to his leg.

Henry mounted the bike, kick started it, and rolled it over to Tony just as he was settling the strap over his chest. Without a word of complaint (which any other time would’ve worried Henry), Tony climbed onto the seat behind him.

~*~

Once they were inside the Los Angeles city limits, past the Visitor and LAPD checkpoints, it was easier going. Though they had to be on the lookout for police patrols, the streets were empty (which made driving easier) and people were inclined to remain inside their homes rather than check out the sound of a lone motorcycle engine. Twice they saw patrol cars, but Henry was able to disappear down a side street or alley before they were spotted. He’d doused the headlight, the streetlights giving off more than enough light for him to see by, which allowed them to quickly melt into the shadows should they be spotted.

They made it to the original meeting place, but they were too late. “They’ve been here,” Henry said after he’d sniffed the air. He didn’t mention to Tony that one of the weres had been bleeding. He hadn’t smelled a large quantity, or seen any blood on the ground, so the wound didn’t appear to be serious.

“What now?” Tony said as they walked back to where they’d hidden the bike.

“We find them,” Henry said.

“How?”

“By finding ourselves a cop.”

It wasn’t difficult. Henry turned on the headlight, kept to the middle of the street, and headed towards the nearest precinct. They were pulled over within five minutes.

“You’re out after curfew,” the cop said as he approached the motorcycle, hand resting upon the weapon he wore on his hip.

“I’m sorry, officer,” Henry said amiably as he stared into the officer’s eyes. “But I need you to tell me where I might find the resistance.”

The policeman gave up half a dozen possible locations that the resistance was suspected to use or had used in the past. Once he’d gotten the information, Henry compelled him to forget that they’d had this conversation, or that he’d pulled anyone over at all. Returning to the shadows they began scouting the addresses they’d been given. They hit pay dirt when they reached the third location.

To all appearances the bombed out club had been abandoned, but Henry’s enhanced senses told him differently. “They’re here,” he told Tony.

Tony looked skeptical. “Are you sure?”

Henry didn’t dignify that with a response, just followed his nose. Tony trailed behind him, keeping watch around them. Henry followed the scent to an alley, and to the garage that opened off it. He didn’t hear anything from within, so he bent down and forced his fingers beneath the door. He used his enhanced strength to lift the door and break the lock holding it closed. Henry slowly raised the door until it was high enough to accommodate him. He rolled beneath it and peered into the shadows, verifying that they were alone.

“Clear,” he called softly to Tony, who rolled under as well, rather than risk the noise of raising the door any further.

Tony closed the door and then waited a moment for his eyes to adjust. The only thing parked inside the garage was a white panel van, but the scent of wolf was even stronger inside the enclosed space.

“We’re in the right place,” Henry confirmed.

Just then an alarm went off, the sound piercing to his sensitive ears. The noise was loud enough to make Tony cover his ears and wince, as well.

“Did we do that?” Tony said in a normal tone, not bothering to yell over the shrill blaring.

Henry read his lips, though he’d have been able to garner the gist of the thought from his facial expression in any case. Henry shrugged. If they had set off the alarm, he didn’t know how, but he was certain that someone would come to check it out. Just as the thought crossed his mind Henry was able to make out the sound of running feet over the alarm.

Henry grabbed Tony and pulled him close. He pressed his lips to Tony’s ear so his words wouldn’t get swallowed up by the alarm. “We’ve got company.”

No sooner had Henry spoken than the alarm suddenly cut off and a door at the back of the garage burst open. Henry reached into his duster pocket for his gun, and Tony drew his own from the waistband at the small of his back. Both weapons were pointed at the two men that had responded to the alarm before they’d both cleared the doorway.

~*~*~*~

Ham was the first one through the door. Mike would’ve been right behind him, but Storm and Cloud pushed their way to the front of the line. When Mike stood shoulder to shoulder with Ham he finally got his first good look at the intruders that had set off the alarm – two men that stood chest to chest, the shorter of the two had strawberry blond hair, the other dark, both holding guns pointed right at him and Ham.

Soon Mike’s view of the two men was obscured by the two wolves. Mike thought at first that they might be attacking, but when the taller of the two men fell to his knees and wrapped an arm around each of their necks, burying his face in each of their fur in turn, Mike revised his thinking.

“Let me guess,” Mike said. “You two know these mutts?”

Even though he was pretty certain that this was the rest of the team sent from Vancouver, Mike didn’t lower his weapon. Partly because he’d learned to be careful, and partly because the blond hadn’t lowered his, keeping it pointed unwaveringly right at them even though he’d let Cloud lick the fingers of his other hand in greeting.

“Storm’s hurt,” the dark haired man said. His companion didn’t look surprised.

“Are you alright?”

Mike thought the blond was speaking to the other man, but to his surprise Storm barked in reply.

“Did you deliver the message?”

This time Cloud barked what even Mike could tell was an affirmative response.

“Are these guys okay?” He indicated Ham and Mike.

It surprised Mike that the man would ask two animals to offer references for them, but both Storm and Cloud barked in reply, Storm shaking excitedly, probably remembering the way Elizabeth had been spoiling them since they’d returned to the basement beneath the Club. The blond nodded and lowered his weapon, then gave in to his own previously suppressed urge to make sure that Storm and Cloud were okay. Mike sighed in relief and reholstered his own weapon. Ham did the same, though he kept a wary eye on the newcomers.

Mike had to grin when the blond said, “Bloody hell, Storm, stop licking my face!” If he hadn’t known better he’d have thought the wolf huffed a laugh at him.

“Introductions might be in order,” Mike said. “I’m Mike, this is Ham.”

“Tony,” said the dark-haired man. “Henry.” He indicated his companion.

“Welcome to LA,” Mike said, and the man named Henry laughed.

“It’s a pleasure to be here,” Henry said, then turned to Tony and spoke his name.

“Oh, yeah.”

Tony slipped the strap of the bag Mike now saw he was carrying over his head and set the bag on the floor. He unzipped it and spread open the sides. Ham’s hand flinched towards his gun when he saw the weapons inside the bag, but Tony didn’t reach for those, instead withdrawing a small package. He handed it to Henry, who took it, and then took a couple steps forward. Mike stepped forward as well, feeling Ham go tense beside him as he did so. He took the package from Henry and looked at it, but there was no indication on the exterior of what it held.

Mike opened the package, ignoring Ham’s warning growl. He wasn’t going to take it inside their headquarters without knowing what the package contained. The well-padded vial of liquid didn’t tell Mike more than he’d known before, except given that the paper appeared to contain a formula, he shouldn’t have been surprised.

“What is it?” Mike asked Henry and Tony, indicating the package.

“We don’t know,” Henry told him. “We only know that the resistance in Vancouver thinks _that_ might be the key to ending the war.”

Mike nodded. Julie had said nearly the same thing when they’d given her the message that Storm and Cloud had delivered, and then immediately ignored them to pull out her notes on the red dust.

“Come inside,” Mike invited. Julie would want to see whatever was in the vial as soon as possible. And Elizabeth was probably worried about the wolves.

Elizabeth was pacing, but she broke into a happy smile when she caught sight of Storm and Cloud. Kyle looked relieved that they’d returned safely, probably because he’d been worried about Elizabeth ignoring their admonition to stay back and go storming after them in search of the wolves. Julie was still sitting at the table where they’d left her when the alarm had sounded to warn them of intruders, taking notes on her notes, and she didn’t look up to acknowledge their return until Mike slipped the opened package onto her notepad.

Julie glanced up, took note of their visitors, and reached for the package. She drew it closer, then carefully removed the vial and stared at it. She put a hand to her mouth and Mike thought she might burst into tears. “They sent a sample,” she said in wonder. “Do you have any idea what this is?” she asked, addressing the others in the room.

“Are you finally going to tell us?” Ham said.

Julie ignored him and continued. “The scientists in Vancouver have been working on the red dust problem.”

The red dust ‘problem’ was that the biological toxin they’d used against the Visitors and thought harmless to humans had instead been found to have unexpected side effects. Getting rid of the Visitors the second time around hadn’t been as easy as releasing more red dust into the atmosphere. Julie had been working on the matter herself, but it was difficult to get in the necessary lab time when Nathan was no longer interested in rocking the boat with the Visitors.

“They’ve managed to alter the form of the red dust from a powder to a liquid.”

“Why?” Kyle asked, voicing the question Mike wanted answered as well.

“They’ve come up with a new delivery system,” Julie said, smiling.

“Contaminate their food source,” Ham said contemplatively.

Mike remembered reading those same words on the note they’d retrieved from Storm’s collar.

“Exactly,” Julie said, her hands shaking with her excitement. “This really could mean the end of the war. I need to do more research.” Julie indicated her notes, then gently placed the vial back into its packing even though Mike could tell she didn’t want to let go of it.

“I hate to interrupt,” Tony said. “I mean, this is great news and all, but we really need to find someplace to crash.”

Mike frowned. Tony’s voice sounded more tense than the issue of where they were going to sleep should warrant.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Julie said, pushing her chair back and standing. “I’m a little distracted right now, but thank you for bringing this. Also, you’re welcome to stay here, we have some rooms . . . .”

Tony looked to Henry, who in turn glanced over at the wolves, who were being petted by Elizabeth. (Her relief when they’d both returned unharmed had been palpable.) Mike wasn’t sure what kind of communication passed between them, but finally Henry nodded and said, “Thank you, we’d appreciate that.”

“Kyle,” Ham said.

Kyle nodded and stood. “Come with me, I’ll show you to a room. Unless you need . . . ?”

Mike could hear the smile in Henry’s voice when he said, “One room is fine.”

“Don’t give them Mike and Ham’s room,” Julie said almost distractedly as she sat back down and turned her attention back to her notes. “Someone broke the bed in there.”

Mike choked and Ham helpfully slapped him on the back.

“Jesus,” Kyle muttered. “More shit I didn’t need to know.”

Mike thought he heard someone choke off laughter, but he couldn’t tell whether it was Tony or Henry, but he knew for sure that Storm was laughing at him. When Ham suggested they go fix the lock before anyone else broke into the garage, Mike gratefully agreed.

They left Julie to her notes on the red dust, and Elizabeth wandering off to help Elias and Willie go over a list of the supplies they needed. The two of them trooped back up to the garage in silence. Mike studied the lock, wondering how the heck Henry and Tony had managed to break it. The door was bent a little bit from the force they’d used, but with a couple of skinned knuckles and some very inventive curses they managed to jury-rig a lock.

They returned to the basement to clean up. Julie’s fingers were tapping at the table and she didn’t acknowledge their return. She pushed her chair back and stood up, pacing and running her fingers through hair that looked like it had already seen a lot of finger-combing. Not that Mike was stupid enough to say that out loud. Finally Julie stopped pacing. She pushed her hair back and caught it in the rubber band she’d been wearing around her wrist. She looked at Mike and Ham as if she’d known they were there all along.

“I need some lab equipment,” Julie said. “What I really need is a *lab*.”

“Funny you should mention that,” Kyle said as he slipped back into the room. He pulled out a chair and turned it around so he could sit on it backwards. He waited a second, smiling at them like the cat that ate the canary.

“Well?” Ham finally said.

Mike had to hide a grin at his predictable impatience.

“I just happen to know where you can find a fully equipped, state of the art lab.”

Julie frowned. “Science Frontiers?”

“Why not?” Kyle said. “You’ve got everything you need there.”

“Nathan would never agree,” Julie said.

“He doesn’t have to,” Kyle said. The next words were spoken slowly. “If he’s not in charge.”

“You want to depose your old man?” Ham said.

He sounded skeptical, but Mike could hear the excitement in his voice.

“I think it’s time dear old dad took some time off,” Kyle said. “He can have the company back when we’re done with it.”

“We already had a plan in place for going in to get that lizard,” Mike reminded them. “We just need to tweak it a little bit.”

“We’d need to tweak it a lot!” Julie said.

But it wasn’t a ‘no’.

“I want to be the one that tells Nathan Bates he’s going on vacation,” Ham said.

Kyle smirked. “We’ll flip for it.”

“There’s too many people working there during the day,” Julie mused.

“So we go in at night when there are fewer people,” Mike said.

“Just one problem,” Ham said. “We have to keep this quiet. If Diana finds out before we’re ready it’ll be open season on LA, and this time Nathan isn’t the solution, he’s the problem.”

“We keep the operation small,” Mike said. “No one outside this room will know.”

“Know what?” Elias asked as he, Willie, and Elizabeth stepped into the room.

“Plus Elias, Willie, and Elizabeth,” Mike amended.

Storm barked.

“And the mutts.”

Cloud barked.

“And the rest of their team.”

“So no one outside the basement,” Ham drawled.

“Are we really going to do this?” Julie said.

“Do what?” Elizabeth said.

“We’re just gonna borrow my dad’s lab so Julie can make more of that stuff.” Kyle nodded towards the vial on the table.

“Just?” Elias said.

“I need to make sure I can replicate it,” Julie said. Her focus went distant. “And then we need to get this formula to other labs, and we need to find a way to contaminate their food source and coordinate an attack . . . .”

“First things first,” Ham said. “We need that lab, and we need a plan.”

Mike ignored his body’s reaction to Ham’s take charge tone. He got out the layout of Science Frontiers that Julie had once drawn for them. At the time Mike had been more concerned with being able to find Julie and get her out if anything went wrong, but it would work beautifully for this, as well.

“Alright,” Mike said as they all gathered around the table and looked down at the layout. He moved over when Cloud stuck her nose between him and Ham. “Can we still get in the way we originally planned?”

They made plans for two hours, going back and forth on the best way to handle the security guards, where to hide Nathan Bates, what to do with the employees that showed up for work the next day. Taking over the lab wouldn’t be as easy as the lightning strike they’d planed a couple of nights ago to steal one lizard from Nathan’s clutches. The good thing was that most of Science Frontier’s employees didn’t interact directly with Nathan – they’d just keep doing their jobs and remain unaware that any changes had taken place behind the scenes.

Finally Mike threw back the cold coffee at the bottom of his mug and pushed his chair back. “Alright, everyone, get some sleep. We go in tonight.”

~*~

When Mike and Ham returned to the basement after a well-deserved nap (and some well-deserved something else), Julie was berating a contrite Tony for not having told them earlier that he’d been injured reaching them.

“It’s just a scratch,” Tony said defensively, reminding Mike of Sean.

“It was not just a scratch,” Julie said. “And even scratches can get infected if they’re not taken care of. Here.” She threw a pair of jeans at him. “Put these on.”

Tony ducked his head sheepishly and caught the jeans just before they hit him in the face.

“Where’s your buddy Henry?” Ham asked him.

As if he didn’t notice the suspicion coloring Ham’s tone, nor feel embarrassment at having been caught changing into a borrowed pair of jeans that didn’t have a tear in them, Tony just said, “He’s still out,” trying to hide a wince as the jeans slid over scraped skin.

“It’s good you’re here,” Julie told them as she closed up their first aid kit. “You can fill Tony in about tonight.”

“What about tonight?” Tony said.

“Maybe we should wait until Henry’s done with his beauty rest,” Ham said. “Then we only have to explain it once.”

Mike didn’t miss Tony’s smirk (or Storm’s huff of what could be nothing else but laughter) when Ham accused Henry of needing beauty rest.

“Fine,” Julie said, sounding distracted.

Mike pulled her aside. “Hey, is your head in the game?”

“What? Of course it is, why?”

“You seem distracted.”

“There’s a lot to think about Mike,” Julie said, sounding exasperated now. “Like whether the lab has everything we need, and who I might be able to use on the project.”

Mike held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright.”

When he turned his attention back to the others Tony was speaking.

“Thanks for letting us spend the day here.”

Mike thought it was a strange way to phrase it, but Julie just pushed past him and assured Tony that they were welcome, more than welcome since they’d brought them the hope of an end to the war.

Tony blushed at her effusive thanks. “We all want an end to this war.”

“We never did ask,” Ham said, making a clumsy segue into his question. “How did you find us?”

Mike wondered if Tony could hear the wariness in Ham’s tone. If he could, he didn’t let on.

“We asked,” Tony said.

“Asked _who_?” Mike said, suddenly on alert as well, wondering who could’ve known where they were that would just give up their location to a stranger.

“Some cop,” Tony said.

“You asked a cop and he told you where to find us?” Ham said skeptically.

“Well, no,” Tony said, but before they could relax he went on. “Henry asked him.”

“So you just went up to some cop . . . ,” Mike began.

“Oh, no,” Tony said. “We let him pull us over.”

Mike gritted his teeth. “. . . and he just told you where to find us?”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah.”

“I can be very persuasive,” Henry drawled.

Mike jumped in surprise at the sound of Henry’s voice, wondering how long he’d been standing there. From Ham’s reaction he hadn’t heard the other man’s approach, either.

“Henry!” Tony said, smiling as if completely unaware of the tension in the room.

Henry moved over to Tony and they hugged briefly. Mike could tell from the flush on Tony’s skin that he’d rather have extended the hug. When Henry released Tony he turned his attention to the others, almost absently placing himself between them and Tony.

“They’re not lying,” Elizabeth said, speaking softly.

Henry glanced at her, inclined his head in thanks, and then addressed his comment to Julie. “Thank you for the room,” he said.

“You’re very welcome,” Julie said, shooting Mike and Ham a glare.

Storm and Cloud whined at the building tension in the room and Tony finally appeared to notice it. Strangely enough he seemed more concerned with Henry’s reaction than theirs, even though they were outnumbered, placing a hand on Henry’s shoulder and squeezing.

“Gentlemen,” Julie said, stepping between them and effectively defusing the situation. “We have work to do.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tony said. “You were going to tell us about that.”

Mike had to hide a smile at Henry’s expression of frustration when Tony moved out from behind his protective stance.

“Before we give you the details,” Ham said, “we need to know whether you’re in.”

“In what?” Henry said, speaking before Tony could commit them, a restraining hand on his arm.

At this rate Mike was going to bite through his lip to keep a grin from spreading across his face.

“We’re going to borrow a lab,” Julie said, extending her hand to indicate the formula and sample they’d brought from Vancouver.

Cloud barked at Henry, but he took his time deciding, studying each of them in turn. Finally he spoke. “And when you say ‘borrow’, I presume you mean ‘take’?”

Ham gave Henry a wolfish grin. “We’re gonna give it back when we’re done with it.”

Henry lowered his gaze to the vial. “You really believe this could end the war?”

“I do,” Julie said.

Henry nodded. “Alright, we’re in. So long as I like your plan. And I can ensure Tony’s safety.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Geez, Henry!”

Grinning, Mike cleared a space on the table to spread out the drawing of the layout of Science Frontiers.

~*~

By midnight they were armed and ready to head out. Henry had assured them that he could get them past any LAPD patrols, and even though Mike was wary, Tony and the wolves both appeared to believe his assurances. Mike agreed, though if they had to they’d beanbag the cops and disable their radios. If everything went according to plan, they’d be running those very same cops come morning, even if no one knew it.

“Okay,” Mike began.

“Wait!” Elias said. He rushed out of the room and returned a moment later with a bottle of scotch and a handful of paper cups. He poured a measure of scotch into the cups and handed them around until everyone, including Elizabeth, had one. Elias raised his cup and the rest of them followed suit.

“What are we toasting to?” Mike said.

“Kicking lizard ass?” Kyle suggested.

Julie didn’t hesitate to voice what they were all hoping for. “Victory.”

They all touched the lips of their paper cups together, even Ham, who Mike had expected to warn them about jinxing the mission or counting their chickens before they hatched. Instead he was the first to return Julie’s toast.

“To victory,” Ham said.

“Victory!” the others agreed.

For a moment Mike felt it, a certainty that they’d succeed. The reformulated red dust would work, they’d drive off the Visitors for good this time, and he’d get his son back. “To victory,” Mike said softly, and downed the scotch in one swallow. He slammed the paper cup upside down on the table and smashed it flat.

“Now,” Mike said, “let’s go get this party started.”

The End


End file.
